Descents
by The Devil In The Blue Dress
Summary: A group of seven people are sent to Earth to protect their homes in space from being blown up by a king in Earth. Meanwhile, there is romance and humor aboard the ship...Please R&R.
1. Dreams with no Meaning

Chapter One: Dreams With No Meaning  
  
  
  
  
  
Yukkarie grasped her husband's hand in her own. She could feel him tense with her touch and looked into his blue eyes for any way of guessing what was wrong.  
  
"Eienno?" she asked concernedly. "Are you okay?"  
  
In reply, he looked into her eyes, "Just thinking about something." He stroked her soft blonde hair and continued to walk down the sidewalk to their house.  
  
"What's on your mind that's got you acting so uncomfortable?" she asked, still concerned.  
  
"I guess I'll have to tell you sooner or later anyway," he mumbled. "I have to leave tomorrow. It's been ordered straight from General Adrian, himself. I'm supposed to be a commander for a special mission to earth. He said that the group of people I'm going with should get to know me and everyone else. According to him, there is only one other person who hasn't shown up yet."  
  
"Tomorrow?" said Yukkarie sorrowfully.  
  
"Yeah," he looked down at his new wife again. "I know we only got married a little while ago, but I have to go." He shuffled through his pockets to find the house key and opened the door, allowing Yukkarie to enter first.  
  
"How long will you be gone?"  
  
"He said about 3 or 4, maybe even 5 years," Eienno looked at Yukkarie as she walked past him. 'She looks so broken,' he thought.  
  
Yukkarie didn't know what to say at that point. She took Eienno's hand again and pulled him upstairs to their room. She took off her jacket, then his and folded them over the edge of a chair. She wrapped her arms around his neck and began to kiss him softly, yet passionately. He kissed back gratefully and held her in his arms, which he knew she would really appreciate. She pulled her lips away a tiny bit.  
  
"I'm going to make your last night here one you'll remember," she began to kiss him along his muscular neck and pulled him towards the bed. Lying down, she pulled him beside her.  
  
Eienno climbed on top of her, knowing that she was hinting that she wanted him one more time before he had to leave. * * *  
  
"Meeko-Bei," said the general, "I want you to tell me whom are going to earth and what their positions on the shuttle were going to be. Then tell me who is here."  
  
"Yes sir," replied a perky woman with golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes. "First, the commanding officer, Major Eienno Kiyoshi, Captain and Doctor Hanna Natsu, both absent so far, Engineering Commander Tomodachi Omonashi, Co-pilot Sebastien Latona, in charge of communications and navigations, we have Karameki Naone, Chikara Akiri is the also a co-pilot and our weapons specialist, Cordelia Daytene. Ms. Daytene has twin sisters working on the moon base who have been selected as nurses that will be picked up when the docking at the moon base is made. They are nurses who are to help Hanna Natsu if she is unable to fulfill any of the tasks she finds are unable to be done alone."  
  
"Thank you, Meeko," he said as he looked through the pictures of the group which came without information. "You might be the clumsiest person I've ever met, but you sure do your job right."  
  
Thank you, sir," she replied cheerily. * * * Hanna looked up at her bedroom ceiling. She loved to find shapes and faces in the little crevasses and falling to sleep thinking about what might happen the next day. She knew it'd be hard to find funny things in a bare ceiling, and she figured that would be the type of ceiling the shuttle would be given.  
  
Like Eienno, she was leaving in the morning and meeting everyone who was there already. She fiddled with her blue hair and pictured what they might look like. The only information the general had given her was there were three men and three other women whose ages ranged from 21 to 23, and then there were going to be two more nurses picked up later.  
  
It took Hanna a while to get to sleep. She kept having the feeling she was missing something. She had checked her bags to make sure she had everything more than twice and was beginning to feel anxious. Slowly, though, she began to drift into a disturbed sleep. ~ ~Dream~ ~ Hanna found herself sitting in the front of the shuttle she had imaged before falling to sleep. Strangely enough, one of the guys she had imagined found his way to her.  
  
"Hi Hanna," he said, "It's our three month today. How do you want to celebrate?"  
  
"There's not much we can do," she replied.  
  
"Why don't we do what we did last month," said the guy again, "get Akeeva to make us some food and have a nice dinner to ourselves."  
  
"Do you remember what happened last month?" asked Hanna miserably.  
  
"Yeah," replied the man, "The jerk ruined it by eating most of the food before we could." He paused, "We can do it differently this time though. I'll make sure he doesn't interfere."  
  
"What I meant to say before was," she felt sorrow and pity build up in her stomach, "I'm pregnant and."  
  
She was cut short by the shocked man, "but we've never done anything but snuggle with one another."  
  
". . .And. . ." she said, beginning to stutter between words, ". . .and it's not your kid."  
  
"Then whose is it?" the man looked like he was getting angrier and angrier as she spoke.  
  
"It's his," she said, expecting him to know who she was talk about.  
  
"Whose?"  
  
"It's his. . .you know?" said Hanna pointing to the major's door.  
  
"Did he force you? Was he taking advantage of his superiority? What did he do to you? Did he threaten you? I'll go take care of it, I promise," said the man as if he did want to think it was a mutual relation.  
  
"No, I forced him," replied Hanna. "He tried to talk me out of it. That's why I'm going to stop being your girlfriend. It's happened more then once. You need a faithful woman."  
  
"Maybe, but, I want you," said the man as he began to walk away in the direction of his room. He looked at her, "I need you."  
  
Hanna sat down, not realizing there was someone in the room with her. She began to cry regretfully.  
  
"You didn't force me," said a darker, yet more comforting voice.  
  
"Yes I did," she said between oncoming tears. She looked behind her to see another faceless man that was built with a tall and muscular figure compared to the other guy.  
  
"I wanted you," he said. "I can't say I didn't. It's just that I'm married. I didn't want to tell you at all, but you know, now that your.umm.I feel I have to tell you."  
  
"You heard me say that?" yelled Hanna nervously.  
  
"I heard the whole conversation," said the man calmly.  
  
"And?"  
  
"I plan to take responsibility for my actions," he said, touching her lower belly gently.  
  
"Why, though?" she shuttered. "Don't you already have your own family?"  
  
"There's a problem, I never thought of that," he said with a lot of sarcasm staining his words. "I have only the child in your stomach, but I also have a confession to make." He kneeled down beside her and put his arm against the back of the chair, and wrapped his hand around her soft face. "I have lost interest in Yukkarie." ~ ~End of dream~ ~ Hanna's eyes shot open. She had had a friend in the past named Yukkarie and that last part of her dream freaked her out a bit. Even weirder, was how Yukkarie had just recently called from a nearby colony to tell Hanna she'd been married.  
  
She looked at her clock; it was three thirty-four in the morning. Because she had to get up in an hour and a half, she tried the best she could to go to sleep, but was unsuccessful. She starred at the wall and wondered what the dream might mean. She'd never had a dream like that before.  
  
'Why did that dream have Yukkarie in it? She told me she married a Major. Why did it have her in it and why did the guy say he'd lost interest?' a chain of these words ran through her head at a billion miles per minute as she tried to find out what was wrong.  
  
After a while, her alarm clock went off. She groaned miserably and shut it off, even though she was wide-awake from being up for the extra time. She crawled out of her bed tiredly and headed for her bathroom, grabbing an outfit as she went.  
  
As she showered, the thought of being pregnant haunted her. She was still virgin, and couldn't picture herself any other way, at least for a while longer than her dream had demonstrated. She relaxed as the warm water beaded through her hair and down her skin. * * * Eienno was also experiencing a strange dream.  
  
Yukkarie could feel his body shutter and shake as the dream followed through. ~ ~Dream~ ~ His dream began the day the shuttle would be taking off, the day he got there. An absolutely gorgeous woman with blue hair and raspberry coloured eyes walked out of a strange looking room. She was wearing a white skirt with a matching, white overtop and a blue shirt. Then Yukkarie appeared, semi-transparent, beside her. Eienno walked towards the blue and as he did, a little girl with black hair and raspberry eyes began to appear. He looked at Yukkarie, and then continued to walk towards the other woman. Pleasurable and lustful feelings filled his body when he finally touched the woman's hand.  
  
All of a sudden, Yukkarie broke down and began to cry. A knife somehow fell into her hands. She began to cut at both wrists. "You betrayed me," she sighed as tears drizzled down her cheeks. "I still love you," she continued as her face began to pale. "I just hoped you loved me too." Her eyes began to close, causing her body to fall onto knees and then to the floor.  
  
The other woman grasped his hand and snuggled his body into hers. His body started to feel like it was full of rocks that cut and burned his insides.  
  
"I do love you," said Eienno looking at his wife, who was now lying in a puddle of her own blood.  
  
The woman who held him tighter than before pulled him away from her. "There's nothing you can do," said the woman, with her comforting and soothing voice. She ripped two pieces of cloth from her overtop and wrapped them tightly around Yukkarie's wrists, stopping what little blood was still left in her body to attempt to continue. She then picked Eienno off the ground, and held him close to her body. He began to hold her as well and after a few minutes began to feel content.  
  
Yukkarie's eyes fluttered open miraculously. She looked at the little girl that Eienno had seen earlier. She was smiling at Eienno and the woman he hugged.  
  
"Eienno," she whimpered.  
  
Eienno felt cold again. The voice of his wife made him shutter. He pushed the woman away and looked her deep in the eyes. He peered over at Yukkarie and, causing her more pain than she had thought possible, kissed the woman with passion and admiration. Yukkarie rested her head back down on the blood-covered floor, awaiting her death.  
  
The little girl began to move towards the strange woman who still remained nameless. She jumped into the woman belly, making the woman cry out in a strange sort of pleasure. The surrounding environment disappeared, Yukkarie included, and reappeared in the shuttle. The woman's belly still looked as it did before but something was different about her.  
  
"I'm pregnant," she whispered into his ear. "We're having a child."  
  
Eienno watch as her belly grew, slowly but surely, until she grabbed it and began to hyperventilate.  
  
After screaming and crying in agonizing pain, the women finally held a small child. She handed it to Eienno, "this is our angel."  
  
Again, Yukkarie appeared with the knife in her hand. She walked over to the woman and stabbed her in the back, making her fall into Eienno's arms with her baby still cradled in hers. Yukkarie then looked at Eienno with a strange face.  
  
"Now I have freed you," she mumbled, "now I'll free myself." She brought the knife to her chest, revealing the scars on her wrists. Quickly, she slid the knife into her own chest. She dematerialized, giving the woman back her life, but for only a few short seconds.  
  
"Keep our child safe," said the woman. "Her name is Azurae. And Eienno," she paused, "I always loved you. Since the moment we met." With that, her eye closed and her chest fell for it's very last time.  
  
He looked down at the dead beauty in his arms and then to the child. 'They look alike,' he thought.  
  
He could feel himself drift off somewhere unknown with the child in his arms.  
  
And faint beep grew as he moved and then bright sunlight engulfed him. ~ ~End of dream~ ~ Yukkarie stroked Eienno's face with a cold cloth. The instant he saw her, his arms wrapped around her as if he had lost control of every bone and muscle in his body.  
  
"I love you, Yukkarie," he said. Her eyes went wide. He had only said that to her once, and only when he purposed to her. "I'm going to miss you and I promise I won't let you get hurt in any way."  
  
"I love you too, Eienno," she said concernedly. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders. He felt over heated and sweat beaded down every inch of his body. "I'm not going to get hurt."  
  
He pulled away and kissed her lips softly. He unlocked her from him and headed for the shower. His day would start like it normally would and would not be interfered by the dream. He studied the worried expression on Yukkarie's face as he turned on the tap to the shower.  
  
"Come here," he said, gesturing for her to come to him. She came without hesitation. He wrapped his arms around her again and began to strip her bathrobe from her body. He pulled her into the shower with her and just plainly enjoyed being with her. * * * Hanna pulled her button-up uniform shirt over her shoulder. She didn't so much look forward to doing anything at all but still knew she had to do as she was told. She pulled the buttons through their proper holes and did up her necktie. Pulling the skirt up, she zipped it so it fit her figure almost perfectly. Unfortunately she had to pull the jacket on over it to hide everything but the bottom hem of her skirt and her long, slender legs. She pulled her hair into a bun, as it was protocol for women with long hair to have it above her shoulder. She turned on her electric toothbrush and began to scrub her teeth until they were clean and then flossed. Her perfect white teeth only made her already pretty face light up with a joyous gleam.  
  
Grabbing her very small, but very full duffle bag, she took one last glance at her room. She smiled looking forward to the day she would sleep in her bed again.  
  
She closed the door and headed out of her room to the kitchen. She starred at the fridge, trying to decide whether she felt like eating or not. She simply shook her head and walked towards the living room door. Taking one quick scope of the room, she left her house and locked the door behind her.  
  
Hanna climbed into her orange convertible and opened the roof, putting her hat on the seat beside her. She turned on the car and headed for the colony's military headquarters.  
  
When she arrived at the gate, the men in the booth asked her for her name and business, both red in the face.  
  
"I'm Hanna Natsu and I need to go to Colony 170 for a meeting with General Peters," she explained as both men starred at her with wide-eyes.  
  
One of them finally regained control of himself, as he began to type something into the computer. Sure enough, her picture and name showed up on the screen.  
  
"Your birthday, Ms. Natsu?" he said.  
  
"July of 2658," she informed.  
  
"Just for medical precautions, we need you to tell us the date, including the year of your last physical exam," said the other man.  
  
"My last appointment was yesterday, March 20, 2680," she replied. The man shook his head and opened the gate.  
  
She smiled at them and thanked them, then began to drive through the opened fencing. She parked in a spot far away from the building where it would be less likely to get towed. Covering the car and locking it with the compacted remote control that hung from her key chain, she headed into the building and peered over at the desk.  
  
"Hi," she said politely, "I'm supposed to get a quick form of transportation to colony 170."  
  
"Name?" said the old lady in a screechy type of voice.  
  
"Hanna Natsu."  
  
"Go to the tenth floor, the elevators are at the far end of that hallway," instructed the lady, glaring from over the top of her glasses and pointing to a small corridor in the far corner.  
  
Hanna gave a suspicious smile to the lady, not wanting to offend her by ignoring her, "thank you madam." She turned and starred blankly at the hallway she had been instructed to enter. As she walked through it, she noticed how insane they had the rooms made up. The wall were pure white, the floor was pure white, the ceiling was pure white and the only pictures on the wall were of military officials whom had long since passed away and didn't seem to know what a smile was. The thought made Hanna feel almost paranoid. Finally a row of elevators appeared from around a corner. She pushed the up button and waited until one of the doors opened. A set of doors opened, and fortunate for her, had nothing behind them. * * * Eienno looked over at Yukkarie, who was driving at the time, but could feel his eyes starring. She peered over at him.  
  
"What's up?" she said kindly, trying desperately to get her mind off of the inevitable.  
  
"Nothing," he replied in a tone that made him sound almost like he was high. "I'll call you everyday from a satellite phone." He studied the curves on her face and body so her could remember every little bit of her.  
  
"Are there women on the crew?" she asked, the little green monster poking it's ugly face in her eyes.  
  
"Yeah," said Eienno. "I won't get involved with any of them though. I'll make sure of that."  
  
"How?" her voice started to quiver in jealous worry.  
  
"By not letting them in like I let you in," he sighed. "I'm going to act like I did before I got to know you. Just like I do with other women."  
  
Yukkarie took a deep breath. She knew that if his urges became too strong he'd give in to them. 'But then again,' she thought, 'he did keep me out for a long time before he actually treated me nicely.'  
  
Eienno noticed the building approaching and pulled out his ID. It had his name, birthday and ID number on it, making it unnecessary for him to have to be asked questions. He hated being asked questions he didn't want to answer and felt that he did have to answer questions that wasted his time.  
  
The gates opened when he slid his card through the slot. The booth men watched as he drove by. Yukkarie peeked over at Eienno again. He didn't seem to be too upset about leaving her. 'Maybe he'll realize it later,' she thought hopefully. She parked the car at the front of the building in the loading zone and popped the trunk. Eienno climbed out and pulled his rather small bag, which held almost all of his belongings, from its given space.  
  
Yukkarie looked at him with longing eyes. He finally caught on to her desire to be in his arms and put his bag down on the concrete. He looked her dead in the eyes and moved towards her, wrapping his arms around her as he did. She graciously opened herself to his embrace.  
  
"I'm going to miss you," he whispered into her ear. "I'm not going to get into any mischief, I promise."  
  
"I love you," she said.  
  
'Good damned woman,' thought Eienno, determined to just go, 'stupid chick movies she's always watching.'  
  
"I love you too," he said with a small bit of annoyance. He let her go and grabbed his bag, then sped into the front doors, just to get greeted by a perky woman.  
  
"Hi," she squealed. "I'm Meeko-Bei Takatu. General Peters told me to come and guide you to the Colony."  
  
"Don't try anything," he said harshly, looking down on the rather short woman.  
  
"What do you mean?" she squawked again.  
  
"I mean, I'm taken and you're too old for me," he furrowed his brows.  
  
"I'm only 24," she said, the perkiness a little toned down. "Anyway, if you'll just follow me."  
  
"Fine," grunted Eienno. "But don't talk much, you're voice is giving me a headache."  
  
"Oh," she sighed, "sorry."  
  
No words were spoken except the occasional directions and gestures made by Meeko. She could tell that he was intent on being faithful to whomever it was that he was with, so she listened to him and respected his instructions to not try anything.although she found him to be incredibly good looking.  
  
"Here we are," she said after only a few minutes that felt like hours to Eienno.  
  
Eienno ventured into the room and looked around as the lights flickered on. She pointed to the machine.  
  
"Go stand in there and ask whatever questions you might have later," she instructed.  
  
Eienno frowned at everyone in the room. They watched him carefully as he walked fearlessly into the chamber. He shut the door behind himself and waited.  
  
The engines started to rumble and buzz. From his feet to his head, he began to dematerialize. This didn't faze him much until he actually began to feel like he was being ripped apart. He shuttered and closed his eyes.  
  
Hanna could feel her body part from itself. She winced in horror and closed her eyes when her body's molecules separated and began to fly past her head. Then she felt her whole body together again, but it felt strange. She opened her eyes to see something.or someone that she didn't recognize at all.  
  
Eienno starred down at the young woman trapped in the chamber beside him. She was beautiful. He somehow managed to keep his composure; after all, he was scrunched together with an absolutely gorgeous woman, in a very compact area.  
  
"Get your hand off my ass," she said, strong tone in her voice.  
  
Eienno smirked and pulled the hand that sat just on the spot were her back and her butt met.  
  
"I didn't put it there," he said.  
  
"Neither did I, pervert," said Hanna miserably. The door began to crack open. Hanna jumped at the chance to get away from the tall, dark-haired man. She looked at him.  
  
"Do you die your hair?" she asked.  
  
"No, why?" he looked at her like she was just another 'Meeko-Bei' type.  
  
"Your eyes are blue," she replied.  
  
"So? Yours are a stupid purple colour," he smirked.  
  
"They are not purple!" she said, offended at him for screwing up the colour of her eyes. "They're raspberry for your damned information."  
  
Meeko-Bei appeared in the machine and looked at the two, whom now silenced.  
  
"What happened?" she asked.  
  
"You and your moron people got the times wrong," said Hanna. "God, every time I go through that thing, something bad happens."  
  
"What happened?" repeated Meeko, who knew that Hanna had seen and knew how the transporter worked.  
  
"You sent me and him at the same time." Hanna frowned at her, "That means we got all squished together and. . .gross, stuck next to that creep."  
  
"I think you're lucky," said Meeko, peering over at Eienno, who stood blankly, with his arms crossed.  
  
"What?" yelled Hanna.  
  
"He's hot," she began to drool through the corner of her mouth.  
  
"What?" she yelled again. "He put his hand on my ass." She calmed down and frowned at him. 'That was a bad first impression, mister,' she thought to herself. 'No one touches my ass.' She starred him down, glaring at him consistently. 'So offensive to me.' As Hanna's eyes unconsciously grazed up and down his body, something began to look familiar to her, she just couldn't put her finger on it.  
  
He too, felt some sort of weird way of knowing her. Something about her, almost made him want to run from her, even though he was obviously much stronger and faster.but it scared him.  
  
Meeko-Bei watched as the two starred at each other without really knowing it.  
  
"Follow me," she said. "You are going to have to be ready to leave very soon." 


	2. The Long Awaited Day

Chapter Two: The Long Awaited Day  
  
  
  
  
  
Hanna's day had started off okay, but then 'that guy' had to show up and grope her bottom. She usually didn't care if she was accidentally touched, but something about this guy made her nervous. She recognized him from somewhere, but she could not quite place him. She starred at him as they walked down the hallway. It looked identical to the one that had freaked her out earlier that day, in her dreams.  
  
Eienno, on the other hand, didn't exactly mind being squished in a small area. He rather liked it. The fear she must have felt, but the courage she showed. She didn't seem too comfortable though. He actually thought she looked strangely unhappy. 'Could she be leaving her lover too?' he thought. He put his hands behind his back and gently pulled the ring from his finger. He was going to have fun with this one, before he told her his marital status. Of course he wasn't going to do anything that could ruin his relationship with his precious Yukkarie. As he looked at her, though, he noticed something oddly familiar about her. He, unlike Hanna, recognized her. 'She's the girl from that weird dream,' he told himself. 'What the hell?'  
  
Meeko-Bei finally led them into a room. There were people in it, talking and laughing.  
  
"Attention," said Meeko, like a grade three teacher. She turned to the two, "Go sit down."  
  
Hanna walked right past Eienno in through the door. She didn't want to look at him unless she had to.  
  
Meeko-Bei let Eienno walk in before she did. She closed the door behind them and walked to the front.  
  
"Now that your captain and commander are here, we can explain why you're all here and then get you all off as soon as possible." She pulled a small laser pointer from her pocket and a remote control from the other. "If you'd all look at the center of the table, I'll show you all you need to know."  
  
An image grew into a large diagram of the Pacific Ocean.  
  
"This, as you all know, is Earth," she paused. "This nice big thing of blue water is the Pacific Ocean." She turned on her laser pointer and pointed at a small square in the middle of the waters. "Here is where your mission is to be fulfilled. Its coordinates are 165W and 0. A spy that was sent to Earth found an important piece of paper, about 3 years ago, that held the purpose made for the area. A giant canon, that will be set to fire at the colonies in another 4 years, in it's completion. So we have designed a special ship that is able to fly in space, water and air. It has oxygen filters made of natural plants that recycle the air, making it almost impossible for the air to run out. Special machines were made to water the plants as soon as they get too dry and begin to run low. It also fertilizes and plants so that you wont have to.  
  
The shuttle you will be flying in, is a unique model made to carry all of you and about four more. Questions about that come later." She zoomed in so they could see the entrance to the ship. "There is an air tight door, with five locks that need to be secured before the ship will even start. Once you get past that," she zoomed in more, making it look like they were actually traveling into the ship's doors, "There is a separation in the hallway. One corridor heads to the bedrooms and living areas and the other to the control room. The only rooms linked to the control room are the commander and captain's rooms. They are not, at all linked to each other, I might add. The rooms are small but fit all the things you need. You have room to walk around and do things to yourself, but that's all we could fit. There is a kitchen, living room, three bathrooms, as I said before, 11 bedrooms, a guys' hangout and a women's hangout. The women's hangout has all the necessary feminine products, if you run out, which you won't, you can pick up more 'supplies' at the next stop. Same goes for men," she raised a brow at Eienno and Hanna. "Just in case, there are also birth control pills and condoms."  
  
"Okay," interrupted Eienno, sarcastically, "extra rooms and birth control products. Um.why do we have those?" In agreement, everyone else in the room looked at Meeko-Bei with a strange glare.  
  
"Because, being stuck in space with a ship set to dock at a certain place a long distance away, having to look at the same people over and over again with no sexual attention can lead a person, and it's a proven fact, to do stupid things, like have sex with people they probably despise being with." She smirked, "I know two people who will really be needing them by the time they get back here." She looked over at Eienno and Hanna again, her smirk slowly turning into a mischievous smile.  
  
"If it makes everyone here feel better, I have psychiatric training," said a fiery redhead. She looked down to the end of the table, "by the way, I'm Cordelia Daytene, your weapons specialist. I get to blow up anything that gets in our way that isn't a friend." She giggled evilly to herself.  
  
"Good for you," said Hanna, smiling brightly. "I think that's going to be a lot of fun."  
  
"That reminds me," said Meeko, "You two should get to know these five. I guess since Cordelia is beside Eienno anyway, we should start with her."  
  
"You all know me already," she said.  
  
"Birth date too," said Meeko.  
  
"Fine," mumbled Cordelia, "February 17, 2659."  
  
It moved along to a blonde-brown haired guy, whose eyes were a sort of brown eye colour. "I'm Sebastien Latona, the co-pilot. Born on the first of November in 2657."  
  
He looked next to himself, at the bright purple haired girl. She smiled, "I'm Karameki Naone, navigations and communications specialist, I make sure we get where we want to go safely. My birthday is on December 13, 2657."  
  
The attention turned to a golden blonde girl, "Hi, I'm Tomodachi Omonashi, I'm the head of engineering. My birthday is on June third, 2658."  
  
She shyly peeked over at the guy across from her.  
  
"My name's Chikara Akiri, I'm the other co-pilot. I was born on March 11, 2657." He looked up at Meeko-Bei. She smiled at him.  
  
"Now that you know all them," said Meeko, "Tell them who you are."  
  
"I'm Hanna Natsu," she said kindly. "I'm happy to meet you all. My birthday is on July 10, 2658. I'm the captain and I'll be more than grateful to work with everyone but him." She childishly pointed at Eienno with her thumb.  
  
"My name is Eienno Kiyoshi, I'm the mayor, my birthday is not going to be told to you until the day it rolls around." He looked at Hanna, "And I think I'll enjoy working with you, Hanna." Sarcasm stained his words.  
  
"Good then, now that everyone knows everyone , it's time for you to get settled into the ship." Meeko gestured for everyone to follow her. She headed for the main hanger on the roof and opened the gate to the security shields. Upon the push of a button the elevator door opened. She forced everyone to pack themselves into the small space and go in all at once.  
  
'God,' thought Hanna, 'why are you doing this to me?' She could feel Eienno's hand squished on her butt again. She turned to face him.  
  
"Would you please." she paused and took a breath to control her urge to yell. ".Take your hand off." she paused again and looked him in the face, as his hand had not moved from its claimed spot just below the small of her back. ".my ass!" she couldn't help but yell making everyone else stop and stare at her.  
  
He stood firm admiring the glow that radiated from Hanna as her anger became noticeable. His hand didn't budge.  
  
She stood up tall, only to become level with his chin.  
  
"Now!" she yelled.  
  
His hand didn't move still, his lip pulled itself into a sinister smirk.  
  
Karameki giggled uncontrollably when Hanna's hand ran right across his face, leaving a nice scratch mark along the ridges of his cheek bone.  
  
He pulled his hand away showing it midair to prove that he wasn't invading her anymore.  
  
The elevator finally stopped. Hanna was let out before anyone could get in her way. Cordelia came up behind her resting a friendly hand on her shoulder.  
  
"That was funny," she said with a bright smiled carved across her face. "Do you two have a background with each other?"  
  
Hanna looked at her strangely, "No." She continued looking in the direction that Meeko-Bei was leading them in, "We just got stuck in that transport thing together and it turned out his hand managed to find my ass somehow. Meeko-Bei's stupid staff sent us to the colony at the same time. Morons."  
  
"You're talking in my language," said Cordelia, "We're going to be great friends."  
  
Eienno smirked at the success he had had making Hanna mad again, for the exact same reason as before. Of course, his hand never meant to go where it always seemed to want to go. He never meant to touch her.  
  
Meeko guided them into the control room first.  
  
The white walls once again made Hanna uneasy. The nerve-raking. white chairs and white floor began to haunt and annoy her. She looked over at Eienno, who loomed in a corner and watch everyone fiddle about their business. He looked at his chair atop a small stair and found there was another seat beside it.  
  
"These are the captain and major's seats," said Meeko cheerfully.  
  
'Things keep getting better,' though Eienno sarcastically. 'Her ass and my hand are magnetized and she's sitting next to me the whole way.'  
  
Over hearing what Meeko had said, Hanna grumbled knowing they would just quarrel the entire time.  
  
"Okay," said Meeko-Bei, waking both Hanna and Eienno from their thoughts. "I'll show you the other rooms."  
  
She led them back to the corridor and opened an air tight door, letting everyone in ahead of her. The ceiling was just the right height for every head that passed through it.  
  
Opening the first door, she announced it as being Karameki's room. Karameki skipped over to it, graciously seeing that her bag was placed neatly on her bed. She closed the door informing her team mates she was going to get settled in.  
  
Meeko opened the door beside Karameki's, "This is Cordelia's room." Cordelia too, parted with the crowd to go organize herself.  
  
She opened the third door, "Tomodachi, enjoy." Tomodachi left the group, just because that was what everyone else was doing so anyway.  
  
Meeko looked to the other side of the hallway and opened the door closest to the corridors. "This should be Chikara's room."  
  
Chikara figured 'what the hell?' and went to check everything out.  
  
Sebastien took a wild guess and asked it the next door might have been his. Meeko nodded allowing Sebastien to enter his room without a second of questioning.  
  
It was the last few moments of the evening when Hanna and Eienno were settled into their rooms, which had to be beside each other with a weird form of access to the other. Hanna rolled onto her bed after throwing all her clothes neatly into the drawers. She slowly found herself falling asleep, only to be visited by her dream again.  
  
Eienno lay in his bed looking up at the ceiling.  
  
'Why is she in my dreams, before I'd even met her?' he asked himself in thought. Eienno rolled over knowing there was a long day to look forward to the next morning.  
  
"Do get some sleep you all," said Meeko's voice over the P.A from the control room. "You will be gone in the morning so use the sheets as restraints so you don't fall out of bed. Good bye and good luck to all of you." The P.A turned off.  
  
Eienno rolled over, he was tried from not getting any sleep the night before. He soon fell into a peaceful sleep. As luck would have it though, his dream to began its fearsome attack on him. It hit with a stronger vengeance this time, though. ~ ~Dream~ ~ The same start began to take place. It wasn't until the end of the dream that something different happened. Yukkarie smiled at Eienno, who held a small child in one arm and the woman in the other.  
  
"You found someone," said Yukkarie cheerfully, "how convenient." She glared at him in a way he had never seen before.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" asked Eienno, grasping his new found love and child in his arms tightly.  
  
"You and I both, Eienno," she looked at him with rage and humiliation.  
  
"I found someone better than you," she looked to the side. "Someone, who loves me for who I am and is willing to marry me for the sake of me, not my bedding skills."  
  
This made Eienno think, had he only married Yukkarie for the sake of sex? He looked at the child who soon began to cry from the tension she sensed. The woman took it in her arms and hugged both the child and him close to her.  
  
Yukkarie disappeared making the environment change. They stood, frightened and alarmed in a peaceful grass field. The woman looked around. Her body relaxed and pulled Eienno to her.  
  
"She's gone."  
  
A rumbling feel to the ground made her tense again. In the distance the woman could see tanks and warfare heading their way. She held a hand our and turned the air in her hand. A lock made of stars appeared before her hand. It made ticking noises as she turned the top star, then the second, third and forth stars. The circle that surrounded them began to open.  
  
The environment fazed to white again. ~ ~End of Dream~ ~ * * * Hanna's eye fluttered open as she awoke from her hazy sleep. Her body felt heavy. She pulled the sheets off her slender body, and leaned over to the window and looked at the radiant stars from outside. She then remembered that there had been a long bay window in the control room. Peering at her watch to see that it was only about two in the morning, she pulled open the door and walked out. She had only slept in a t-shirt that fell to her soft mid-thighs. She found her spot beside Eienno's and sat down, studying the stars like she would study her ceiling before, in a half sleeping daze. * * * Eienno's eye shot open. He was hyperventilating and sweat beaded from his forehead. He sat up and looked around, partially remembering where he was. Laying back down, he tried to fall back to sleep.  
  
After about a half an hour of looking at air, Eienno decided that since he couldn't sleep, he'd go have something to drink. He floated out of his bed towards the door leading into the hallway. He headed to the kitchen and opened a package of juice with a straw. He hulled himself back to his room and decided that since he wasn't going to sleep, he'd go into the control room and image how much control he could have over Hanna.  
  
When he had floated to his seat, he pulled on the buckle to put himself down. He looked over to his side, where Hanna was to sit.  
  
To his surprise, she was there. She'd fallen asleep though, and wasn't able to be taunted by him. He looked her from head to toe. She had buckled herself in, but was curled into a tiny ball on the seat. Her head laid softly on the armrest closest to his chair. Her orange shirt had a v-neck, showing off all her cleavage, and rode slightly along the rim of her bottom. Her legs curled into her chest, which raised slightly every time she inhaled.  
  
Eienno felt his heart race as he looked at the blue-haired beauty. Every minute her spent starring at her, he found himself more and more lost.  
  
Hanna woke up to the feeling of being starred at. She sat up to see who it was.  
  
"What are you doing?" she asked sleepily.  
  
"Nothing," he said harshly.  
  
Hanna pulled her shirt down so that it would cover her more, "Then leave."  
  
"No," he muttered flatly. "I have just as much right to be here as you do."  
  
"Fine then," she said, undoing the buckle that held her to the seat. "I'll leave."  
  
"Good," he smirked, "Get that monstrous body out of my face."  
  
"Monstrous, hey?" said Hanna, sleep deprivation written all over her. "And why do you say that?"  
  
"Just look at you," he pointed to her feet, which were absolutely perfect. "Your feet are too big, your toes are too small, your legs are more like soggy sticks plastered to you at the waist." He hesitated to find something wrong with her waistline, "and oh, that pot belly."  
  
Hanna looked at her flat stomach with an eyebrow arched.  
  
"Well," she said, "if those are all the things wrong with my body, then yours should be burned for being so disgusting."  
  
His face squished into a frown. "At least I can get some. No guy would be brave enough to try looking at you naked."  
  
"Oh, yeah?" said Hanna with a smirk of knowingness. "Then why were you starring at me?"  
  
Eienno hesitation. 'How did she know I was starring at her?' he asked himself. "I wasn't starring, moron, I was glancing in that direction when you woke up."  
  
"That's why I felt your eyes burning holes in my neck the whole time, right?" her smirk grew into a victorious smile.  
  
"That's a lie," said Eienno angrily. He knew she was right, but he didn't want her to know that.  
  
"No it's not," she said. "That's a lie too," he started to sound frustrated.  
  
"Explain."  
  
"You've only known me for 14 hours," he smirked triumphantly.  
  
"Don't forget, you've had your hand on my ass all day," said Hanna, "you never looked guilty about anything then."  
  
Eienno started to twitch. His wits, that at one time seemed to be unbeatable, were defeated.  
  
"Tell the truth, Major," sighed Hanna, "You think I'm hot." Eienno's face went red. Hanna turned to face her bedroom door, then pushed herself off the chair. Eienno stood embarrassed.  
  
Looking at his watch he decided that Yukkarie would be up and about by now. She was always up early, it almost scared him. He dug around for a satellite phone and eventually he found one.  
  
He dialed in his home phone number.  
  
By now, Hanna had gone to bed and was sleeping soundly.  
  
The phone rung persistently until, "Hello?"  
  
"Hi," said Eienno gently, but quietly.  
  
"Oh, hi Eienno," said Yukkarie happily. "How are you?"  
  
"Tired," he paused, "And you?"  
  
"I'm good, but I miss you a lot." She stayed quiet.  
  
His heart sank. He had never had anyone say something like that to him after he had only been gone for not even a full 24 hours. 'Damn,' he thought, 'no one has ever said that to me at all.' "I miss you too."  
  
"So," she sighed, "are you going to fill me in on everything?"  
  
"Sure," said Eienno. "I'm in space. I have a small room with a small bed, there's a kitchen, a guys' room, a bathroom, and whole bunch of other stuff."  
  
"Tell me the names of the others there with you," she instructed.  
  
"Well, there's Chikara Akiri, Sebastien Latona, Hanna Natsu, Tomodachi Omonashi, Cordelia Daytene, Karameki Naone and that's it until the moon base." He silenced himself.  
  
"Is there something wrong?" asked Yukkarie, hearing a weird something in his voice.  
  
"No," he said, "Just called you in the middle of my thoughts. I guess I kind of wanted to tell them to you as I got them in order, you know?"  
  
"I'm your wife," she said calmly, "that's what I'm here for."  
  
"Well," he started, "one of the girls here is incredibly gorgeous." He paused in concern, "are you still wanting to hear?"  
  
"Yeah, I won't make any assumptions until later," answered Yukkarie, not feeling any fear of losing Eienno to this new girl.  
  
"But see," he started again, "not only is she gorgeous, but smart and witty as well. Do you remember how you used to have to be with me?"  
  
"Un," she said softly.  
  
"She's like that except she's got more eagerness behind it." He hesitated. "When I got transported here, the people screwed up the schedule and forgot to check the times, so we were sent to the same place at the same time. We got stuck in a little room together and it was weird. I had a dream the other night with her in it. I'd never met her. Do you know why or how that could happen?"  
  
"No," she said, "maybe you saw her somewhere once and you can't remember her."  
  
"I doubt it," he said, "but there's a chance."  
  
"I recognize one of those names though," she said. "Hanna, she and I used to be friends before I moved here and met you. Does she have blue hair?"  
  
"Oh shit," he exclaimed quietly, "you know Hanna?"  
  
"I did," she replied, "Does she still have her blue hair?"  
  
"Is it dyed?" asked Eienno, eager to find out more about her.  
  
"Um," she started, "she never dyed it. She never wanted to. It was her favourite colour, she even bought white, blue and black so her clothes would match her hair. Does she still have it?"  
  
"She does," he said. "How long ago did you know her?" he asked, with determination.  
  
"I knew her about four years ago," said Yukkarie, remembering the years she spent in military school. "She was my best friend. Smart and eager to please. The professor in the medical department gave her 100 percent on everything and she more than earned it. Her stuff was all perfect. On her first real operation, she needed to do open heart on a man with a tumor in his ventricles. The doctor who was assisting her didn't need to do anything to aid her, she got a perfect score. She took the place I was supposed to have, or I'd be going with you."  
  
"What do you mean?" asked Eienno.  
  
"She got better than me in every course we took," she explained, "so not only did they make her into a doctor, but a flight captain too."  
  
"Could have fooled me," he said sarcastically, "she acts like a stupid, man- hating ditz all the time."  
  
"There's a reason for that," she said in defense of her old time friend. "When she was in high-school, the guys would always walk by her and smack her ass or do something that involved making her uncomfortable. She was extremely pretty when she was 18, the prettiest in the school, so she would get a lot of humiliation from the guys."  
  
"Oh," he said, with new found fuel. 'That's why she was so sensitive to being touched and watched.'  
  
"Sorry sweetie, I got to go to work," said Yukkarie, softly. "I love you."  
  
"I love you too."  
  
"Bye."  
  
"Talk to you later," said Eienno, pulling the phone from his ear. He got up as he turned it off and put it back where he had found it a while ago. He pushed off towards his room, floating with ease, straight through to the other door. He wanted to explore without anyone being there. He turned off the gravity as he left.  
  
He peered into the bathroom. It was reasonably big with white walls and white towels and wash clothes to go with them. The towels were stacked nicely in a cupboard with plastic sliding doors. On one side of the room, there was a rather large bathtub with jets and a cushion to support the neck and head.  
  
'They sure went all out to make sure we were comfortable,' he thought as he studied everything.  
  
On the other side of the bathroom, there was a tall shower with plastic sliding doors. It too, was a very large size with a lot of fancy accessories.  
  
Closing the door, he headed to the hangout made for guys. When he opened the door, his eyes almost shot out of his head in joy. There were weights and things to help him keep his toned muscles the way they were. He decided that instead of seeing everything else, he'd just stay there and lift weights.  
  
He began lifting with 20 pound weights to warm up and gradually moved up to his 75 pound goal.  
  
Hanna was still finding it hard to sleep after she left the control room. She could hear Eienno talking, but couldn't hear what he said. She sat and listened to the soothing sound of his voice. She imagined he was singing her to sleep. She didn't care who it was, it was nice to think that someone would actually care enough to do so. She heard Eienno shuffle around in the control room and then go through his room to the rest of the shuttle. She peered at her watch. It was almost six in the morning, so she decided to get up and make breakfast since she couldn't sleep.  
  
As she came closer to where Eienno was, she could hear him breathing heavily. She opened the door to the guys room just enough to see in. He was lifting 60 pounds on the bench press and with relative ease. A smirk grew across her face. She opened the door a little more and stood in the hall, still in her pajamas.  
  
"You know," she said, making him look over at her, "it's dangerous to do weight-training without someone to make sure you don't hurt yourself."  
  
"And you care, why?" he said.  
  
"I don't care," she said, "just thought you, as any other person in the universe, could get hurt. Besides, I don't want to be the one who has to surgically remove a pole from your chest."  
  
"Why is that?" said Eienno with a smirk.  
  
"Waste of my time."  
  
"What if it was someone else who needed you?" he asked.  
  
"Then it would be okay," she said truthfully, without even a flinch to give the impression she was lying. "I'd do whatever I could for anyone else."  
  
"A reliable source tells me you're smarter then you look," he smirked, "I don't see how they could be right about it though."  
  
"Why do you say that?"  
  
"Because, anyone with a brain would want to help me," he spoke with more confidence than most, but kept lifting his weights.  
  
"Answer me something," said Hanna, "is your dick as big as your ego?"  
  
"Why do you care?" He looked at her with sinister eyes.  
  
"I don't," she said, "I couldn't give a crap about you at all."  
  
"Then why'd you ask?"  
  
"To get the topic of me helping you out of your head," she said loudly.  
  
"Why wouldn't you help me?" said Eienno.  
  
"Because you piss me off." She looked at the kitchen and walked away. 'Asshole.'  
  
Eienno smiled as she walked out. 'She's so cute,' he thought sarcastically.  
  
Hanna rattled around in the kitchen looking for something she could make for everyone. She found eggs, vegetables, and some spices. 'Omelets,' thought Hanna. She didn't like to eat anything with eggs. So, she decided, 'make them some food and skip breakfast.' 


	3. More than Meets the Eye

Chapter Three: More Than Meets the Eye  
  
  
  
  
  
Karameki patted her hungry stomach and stretched her arms. She got out of her bed and headed to the kitchen to eat breakfast. When she got there, Hanna had just finished making her omelets and was setting the table.  
  
"Good morning," she said as Hanna placed the last plate of delicious looking food on the table. "Why are there only five places set up?"  
  
"Because I refuse to cook for Major Asswipe, and I'm not hungry," replied Hanna, frustration littered all over her.  
  
"Why don't you want to cook for Kiyoshi?" continued Karameki.  
  
"I answered that already," said Hanna.  
  
"No you didn't."  
  
"He's an asswipe," she looked directly at Karameki almost frowning.  
  
"What'd he do in the first place?" asked Karameki.  
  
"He just bugs me," Hanna's eyes softened. "Since the second I met him, he seemed oddly familiar, then he wouldn't stop bugging me and my ass."  
  
"He's a guy," comforted Karameki. "Guy's have no digression and no sensitivity."  
  
"That's not it, though," she paused. "Its just that guys have always treated me like I'm just another toy to play with and he didn't when we met. I guess it just freaked me out."  
  
Just then, Eienno walked in.  
  
"Mm, breakfast," he said.  
  
"Yeah, breakfast that doesn't belong to you," said Hanna. She pushed him out of the kitchen. "You wait until everyone else is done."  
  
"Hey, I thought I was highest in rank," he looked down on her. She was only about as tall as his chin, but she was still taller than Yukkarie and most other girls he had met.  
  
"So?" she said. "I'm the one who cooked."  
  
"So?" he said. "I'm above you."  
  
"You wish you could get the chance to be above me," she said.  
  
"Want a bet?"  
  
"No!"  
  
"Because you know I'll win."  
  
She frowned, "Fine. But I'll be the one doing the victory dance, not you."  
  
"Whatever you say," he smirked.  
  
"You will never be above, below, beside or on top of me."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"This will be great for my psychology study." Cordelia poked her head around the corner and glanced at Eienno and Hanna. "My hypothesis for the study is that all the hate you feel for each other will transform in time to become one of the strangest relationships I've ever studied."  
  
"Go blow something," said Eienno crudely.  
  
"No," retorted Cordelia, "that's Hanna's job."  
  
Hanna turned around and grabbed a plate, throwing it directly into Cordelia's face. "Don't ever say something even related to that about me!"  
  
"Why?" stated Eienno, "You scared she might have a point?"  
  
"Are you lost somewhere, asshole?"  
  
"No," he smirked proudly.  
  
"Then shut up and remember this," she stood on her tip-toes to be at least a little closer to eye level, "You are not going to have any little bit of me in your desperate hands."  
  
"Yes I will," he grunted as he headed back to the weight room. "And I'm not desperate. I can get anyone, male or female, although I like women better."  
  
"I agree with him," said Cordelia, getting herself involved in something she shouldn't, again.  
  
"No you don't," said Hanna.  
  
"Yes, I do."  
  
"You don't!"  
  
"I do!"  
  
"You don't!"  
  
"Shut up!" yelled Karameki standing in the middle of them. "Shut up and get it together." She looked down the room to where Eienno was lifting 80 pounds on the bench press, "Say sorry to Hanna for insulting her sexuality."  
  
Eienno looked over, 'but I'm not sorry."  
  
"Fine," sighed Karameki, "Just say it for the hell of getting along."  
  
"No," He replied.  
  
Hanna shrugged angrily and stalked off towards her room. As she turned around, Chikara walked into her. Her lips were almost touching his.  
  
Chikara didn't know how to react. He didn't know whether he should hold on or back off. He decided that since Hanna obviously took offence to being touched that he'd back away. He managed to control himself enough to walk away without looking at her body.  
  
"Good morning," said Chikara, backing away slightly. "Didn't mean to invade your bubble."  
  
"It's okay," said Hanna, feeling a little flushed by Chikara's closeness.  
  
"Excuse me," he said, "I haven't brushed my teeth yet." 'Great pick-up line,' thought Chikara, scolding himself.  
  
"Okay," she moved backwards and leaned against the wall, letting Chikara pass her. She lulled out and headed to her room again, looking as if she was a butterfly about to come out of her cocoon.  
  
Eienno grumbled jealously at the sight of Hanna gawking at Chikara as he past her. He put the weight on their stands and grabbed another ten pounds off the rack. 'Bastard,' he thought, 'he's going to get to her.' He looked at her as she walked down the hallway, her mouth almost dragging lazily behind her. She turned into her room and closed the door behind her.  
  
Flopping down on the bed, she almost fell asleep instantly, with good thoughts sugar-coating her dreams.  
  
Karameki peered into the guy's room.  
  
"Are you jealous?" she asked, noticing that since Hanna had bumped into Chikara, Eienno had had a mood swing.  
  
"Why the hell would I be jealous of a fool like Akiri?" he retorted, angrily.  
  
"Because he came closer to her without trying and then got her to somehow like him," explained Karameki.  
  
"Shut up."  
  
"Fine," she walked away to go eat the breakfast provided by Hanna. 'Damn,' she thought as she approached the table, 'now it's cold.' She took a bite and peacefully yelled out, "hey everyone, this is good."  
  
Cordelia, who had just finished a quick shower walked into the kitchen, "What's so good about it?"  
  
"Everything," replied Karameki. "Just because you got it in the face and I didn't, doesn't mean that it doesn't taste okay."  
  
"Nothing is good about that god damned omelet and nothing is good about our captain, Hanna."  
  
"Damn straight," said Eienno, poking his head around the corner. He sat down beside Karameki and began to eat Sebastien's breakfast. "By the way, don't tell anyone whose not here about me eating. She's a good cook, how sexy?"  
  
"I can cook," said Cordelia, jealous that Hanna was getting all the attention. "Oh, by the way, Eienno. Just in case you haven't noticed, Chikara and Hanna just started a relationship."  
  
"From what?" Eienno almost freaked out at the thought. "Bumping into each other."  
  
"No," she said, "Did you see the way they looked afterwards, though?"  
  
"I did," said Karameki. "Holy crap, I've never seen anyone look that high on life."  
  
"I think they both looked like dumb asses." Eienno frowned, 'I lost.'  
  
Chikara let the water run soothingly down his muscular body. He wasn't near as well built as Eienno and wasn't even close to having such a colourful personality. He knew that if Eienno could get closer to her than he wouldn't stand a chance.  
  
He liked Hanna. She was fiery, but cute and lovable, the way he had always wanted his women to be. He thought to himself as he washed his hair.  
  
'There's not a chance in hell that she could like him though, they never get along. He's so rude to her, and always touching her when and where she doesn't like it. I sure hope she's not taken already. I'd really like to get to know her.'  
  
He finished up and got out, getting dressed before he brushed his teeth, styled his blonde hair and headed out.  
  
"Here, Chikara," said Tomodachi, who had gotten up just after Hanna went to bed. "Hanna made this for us."  
  
"Of course, she made you some and not me," grumbled Eienno from the weight room.  
  
Hanna had slept for over an hour before she woke up feeling refreshed and ready to begin her day. She didn't want to let any one guy interfere with her day, although she hoped Chikara would take most of her time.  
  
She began to barrel through her clothes in an attempt to find something to wear that would catch his attention. She smiled brightly when she found a white tube top with a circular, blue vine design and a blue denim skirt that ran the length of her hip to toes. She held her outfit up against her body and checked to see how it looked.  
  
'Yep' she thought as she grabbed her bag of hygiene products.  
  
She pulled some under garments from her underwear drawer and headed out the door. As she walked down the hallway, she found Eienno working out in the guy's room and Sebastien frantically looking for food in the kitchen.  
  
"Didn't you get the omelet I made?" she said peering into the kitchen from the thresh hold of the door.  
  
"No," replied Sebastien.  
  
"I could've sworn I made you one," she said, confusedly.  
  
"I didn't get it and I'm dead starving," he replied, still opening and closing cupboards at a rapid pace.  
  
"Here," she said, "Sit down, I'll make you another one."  
  
"Oh, that's okay," he said looking around for something already made that he could eat.  
  
"No, sit down," she said in a soft tone.  
  
"Okay," he sighed as he sat down.  
  
Hanna set her clothes on the table and began to crack a few eggs. She made an extra big one for him, because in her mind, he looked like he could eat a bus if he had the chance. He started to drool as the smell hit his nose.  
  
She quickly placed his food in front of him and watched as he practically inhaled it. Leaving him to eat in peace, she grabbed her stuff and continued her way to the bathroom. With sudden realization, she stopped in front of the door to the weight room. She opened the door to see Eienno shirtless and lifting probably a good 100 pounds. 0Despite her impressed thoughts, she frowned at him and started to talk.  
  
"Why did you eat Sebastien's breakfast?" she said, sourly.  
  
"What makes you think I ate it," he said.  
  
"You were the only one who didn't have one of his own," she said, "I'm not stupid."  
  
"Yes you are," he said, "stupid, but right."  
  
"That was really rude," she said, "Especially since you are perfectly capable of making your own."  
  
"So is he," Eienno peered over. "Oh, are you doing laundry?" He smirked inwardly.  
  
"Maybe," she said, "I won't be doing yours, though, because you're an ass to everyone here."  
  
"Fine, laundry women, but don't be expecting any favours."  
  
"Like I would ever want you to help me." She walked out, shutting the door behind her and heading to the bathroom again.  
  
She growled in frustration and walked into the opened door to the bathroom. She shut and locked the door behind her, shedding her clothing as she went. She turned on the shower and set it to a hotter temperature then normal, as she needed more relaxation then normal.  
  
She climbed in and rested her body on the wall opposite the shower head, letting the water sear down her body, soothing and loosening her muscles. She leaned her face into the showers of the water. Her blue hair flattened as it got wet and fell down her back. She let her mind, drift into thought.  
  
'Why does he do those things?' she said to herself, 'he gets after me for not making him food, then eats someone else's so I have to make more, calls me stupid and then assumes I'm doing laundry. God I hate him. Why can't he be like Chikara, and treat me nicely. He didn't even touch me when he had the chance. I hate guys that grope women they don't even know or have a relationship with.'  
  
He body tensed at the thought of Eienno right at that moment. Knowing he was wrecking her shower without even trying, she deleted him from her thoughts. She imagined what it would be like snuggled into Chikara's arms.  
  
'He could touch me, and I would like it. He would probably stroke my hair and shoulders. Chikara Akiri, what a fitting name. Eienno Kiyoshi, what an ass he.' she paused, 'he found a way into my thoughts again. How does he do that?' She poured a little shampoo into her hand and massaged it into her scalp and hair, then rinsed. She massaged conditioner into her fingers and put it into her hair, starting at the ends and working her way up. She rinsed the majority and climbed out, turning off the water.  
  
She pulled a towel from the cupboard and started t dry herself off. She wrapped her hair in a towel and began to put make up on. She didn't need much, only a little eye shadow to add colour to her face and mascara to make her eyes look a little bigger. She unwrapped her hair and pulled it into a ponytail at the back of her head, brushing the bumps out. She finished drying off her body and put her clothes on. They fell into every perfect curve on her body and flattered her. She had made it a habit to buy flattering clothes when she got out of high school.  
  
'I look okay,' she thought as she walked out of the bathroom. She grabbed all of her stuff and went back to her room to put it away. On her way back to her room, though, she ran into Chikara, who couldn't help but stare at her.  
  
"Hi again," she said, "how'd you sleep?"  
  
"I slept okay, you?" he replied.  
  
"I'll have to nap later to catch up, but other then that." She blushed with embarrassment for no apparent reason.  
  
Eienno watched Chikara and Hanna through the crack in the door. He was sitting on the couch in the guy's room hearing everything they said. He didn't know why he felt so jealous or why he felt the urge to just hold her and be nice to her. He knew that the only thing keeping him from doing so was how much he loved Yukkarie.  
  
'But maybe I don't love her enough,' he thought, 'because if I want Hanna, then I must not want Yukkarie.' He dismissed the thought and turned his attention back to Hanna and Chikara.  
  
"Do you want to have dinner with me tonight, after everyone else is done eating?" asked Hanna, extremely red with embarrassment.  
  
She felt butterflies in her stomach and her heart began to beat fast. He held her in suspense for a few seconds, although he didn't mean to.  
  
"Sure," he said, "do you want to cook or should I?" Hanna's heart sank at his reply. She felt every muscle in her body jump for joy. "I'll cook." She slid off to her room joyously.  
  
Eienno growled inwardly at Chikara. He still didn't understand why, but he felt Chikara was now officially his mortal enemy.  
  
He began to lift more weights, hoping that would calm his anger slightly.  
  
Hanna's body felt bubbly. She had never been brave enough to ask a guy out, not that there had been any guys she had wanted to ask out. She threw her dirty clothes into the laundry bin and walked into the control room.  
  
Cordelia, Tomodachi and Karameki were in their spots looking at their stations.  
  
"Hello," she sighed, off in her own little world.  
  
"Hi," said Cordelia, "are you sick?"  
  
"Yeah, you don't look like you normally do," added Karameki.  
  
Tomodachi peered over, "If she was sick, I'm sure she's be the first person to know. Chikara and her are probably becoming an item."  
  
"How would you know that?" asked Cordelia. Hanna looked over at Tomodachi, smiling uncontrollably. Karameki looked at Hanna with a funny form of confusion written all over her.  
  
"I was in the kitchen when she asked him," she said, "I was eating at the table."  
  
"Did you like your breakfast?" asked Hanna, all of a sudden wanting to change the subject.  
  
"Yeah," sighed Tomodachi. "But back to the point, I'm pretty sure you and him will make a good couple. It'll be pretty hard not to see each other."  
  
"I think you and Eienno make a better couple," said Karameki.  
  
"Why would you think that?" snarled Hanna.  
  
"Well," peeped Karameki, "you're just so imperfect for each other, that you're the perfect match for each other."  
  
"That doesn't make sense," said Cordelia. "But I think you're right, Karameki, Eienno will keep her from getting spoiled and she would keep him from being a miserable moron, who takes his anger out on everyone."  
  
"That's bull crap," said Hanna, getting up from her seat and slowly heading to the front of the shuttle. "I hate Eienno more passionately than I like Chikara."  
  
"That's what I mean," said Karameki, "You're so passionate about hating Eienno that you'd turn around instantly."  
  
"Enough about Eienno," said Hanna, with an astonishing amount of anger. "We will never be more then enemies."  
  
"Holy, anger problem," said Cordelia.  
  
"Holy, bitch problem," retorted Hanna. She walked back to her room and began to think of what she should do for dinner.  
  
Chikara was glad he didn't have to ask Hanna. It made it a whole lot easier for him. He got up from the table and headed to the weight room to try and get acquainted with his commander.  
  
"Hey, Major," he said cheerily. "How are you so far?"  
  
"I'm not so good," said Eienno. "I'm having trouble getting used to things."  
  
"Oh," said Chikara. "So, do you have a girlfriend or something?"  
  
"No," said Eienno, "a wife, but don't tell anyone. I want to keep that secret or they will be badgering me about it."  
  
"I have a really strange question," he looked at the weights. "Why are you treating everyone so crudely? Especially Hanna?"  
  
"I treat people the same way." He began to work his legs. "She just pisses me off, so I treat her the way I'd treat anyone who pisses me off."  
  
"Well," he sighed, "I don't want to be one of those people, so I'm going to do something useful and get out of your way." With that Chikara left.  
  
'Stupid fool,' thought Eienno. 'Stupid, but cool.'  
  
Hanna looked at her belly. It was what most women would happily except as being skinny. Hanna liked her weight, but decided to tighten up the muscles so she'd have nice abs and arms.  
  
'Even though he'll be there to insult my every move,' she thought to herself, 'and it's a guy's only room, I think I'm going to work out and get my body to look great.'  
  
She changed into her spandex work out clothes and headed off.  
  
Eienno decided that since he'd been exercising the whole morning, he'd use the rest of the day to do what he came to do and work in the control room. He headed to his room to change and get something to wear after a shower. Just as he turned the corner to the bedrooms, Hanna came out of her room in a tight, skimpy outfit and water bottle.  
  
"You don't mind it I hang in the weight room, do you?" she said sarcastically.  
  
"I couldn't give two shits," he said smugly. "I'm not in there any more."  
  
"Good," she skimmed past him and headed down the hall.  
  
Eienno couldn't help but stare at her top to bottom as she walked away.  
  
Hanna knew darn well that she was being looked at. She felt her heart pound nervously as she entered the room in silence. She felt eyes staring at her from all directions and nervously tried to stand her ground. She closed the door behind her and instantly felt relief. She took a deep breath and started to she what she might be able to start with. She stretched while she thought about it.  
  
When she finished stretching, she hopped on the tread mill and began to jog lightly.  
  
Eienno sat in his chair with a clipboard and checklist.  
  
'Check weapons station to make sure weapons are secured and ready to go.' he looked over at Cordelia. "Is everything okay in weaponry?"  
  
"Yep," said Cordelia.  
  
"What about communications and navigations?" he asked changing his glance to Karameki.  
  
"All good, no messages."  
  
"How's the engineering station?"  
  
Tomodachi nodded.  
  
"Good, my job's done." He sat down.  
  
Karameki, Cordelia and Tomodachi with a grin of conspiracy.  
  
"Why do you fight with Hanna so much, Eienno?" asked Karameki.  
  
"Who cares?" he said strangely.  
  
"Me," said Cordelia, "Tomodachi," she hesitated, "and Karameki."  
  
"I don't fight with her," he said.  
  
"Yes you do," said Tomodachi.  
  
"All the time," said Cordelia. "All psychology books will tell you that if someone likes another someone, then they will pick on them until they are able to confess."  
  
"That sounds a little familiar," said Karameki, "especially since you show so much more hostility to her now that she's going to be Chikara's girlfriend."  
  
"Why the hell would I be any little bit jealous of that fool?" he asked, sarcastically. He thought to himself for a second, 'oh yeah, because he's going to date the hottest chick on the shuttle.'  
  
"See," said Cordelia. "You think he's a fool because you're jealous. Right?"  
  
"Wrong," he rolled his eyes in disgust. "You're all wrong about everything."  
  
"No," said Tomodachi.  
  
"You're wrong,' said Karameki.  
  
"We can tell," finished Cordelia.  
  
Hanna starred at the wall of her room. She had been working out for almost two hours and was beginning to feel her body react. She rubbed her sore legs and arms.  
  
"Oh crap," she said aloud to herself. "I've got to get ready and start cooking." With that, she got up and began to search through her drawers for something to wear.  
  
She found a pale blue skirt and a white shirt that she found suitable. The skirt fell to the middle of her thigh and sat just below her hip bone. It flattered her belly and made her legs look longer then they actually were. The shirt was not quite loose but not quite skin-tight. It was the perfect colour and the perfect cut. The v-neck showed her collar bone and a tiny bit of cleavage.  
  
She looked herself over after putting her clothes on and congratulated herself for her newly-found success. She headed out her bedroom door, ready to cook a huge dinner for Chikara. 


	4. More than Meets the Eye Part 2

Chapter Four: More Than Meets the Eye-Part Two  
  
  
  
  
  
Hanna looked through the cupboards for something to cook. She eventually found something actually worth the effort. She found some rather large steaks, potatoes and the ingredients to make a Greek Salad. She decided that she'd marinade the steaks in her own homemade sauce and make some mashed potatoes.  
  
She put a big pot beside the sink and began to peel the potatoes. After she peeled, she cut them into small bits and dropped them in the pot. She carried on peeling and cutting until the estimated amount of potatoes were gone.  
  
Eienno glared at Chikara. He was really starting to envy him.  
  
'What am I thinking?" he asked himself. 'I've got Yukkarie.' After saying that, Eienno realized that he was slowly falling for Hanna. He didn't like the idea at all, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to deny loving her if it ever happened. All he could do was hope that he was wrong.  
  
Chikara looked over at him with an uncomfortable gaze.  
  
"Why are you starring at me?" he asked.  
  
"Because," started Eienno, "I think you're acting like a jerk. Especially since you consider yourself 'going out' with Hanna."  
  
"That's a crock," said Chikara defensively.  
  
"No it's not," retorted Eienno.  
  
Sebastien looked at Chikara, then Eienno. 'There's going to be a problem here,' he thought, getting up and leaving the weight room.  
  
Chikara looked at Eienno, "I act the way I've always acted and you haven't known me long enough to tell."  
  
"Fine," said Eienno, a smirk crossing his face, "But um why do I bet I could nail Hanna before you?"  
  
"I doubt it," said Chikara. "She hates you, man. She seems to feel that you are an asshole and someone who really needs to get over himself."  
  
"Yeah," he said, sarcastically, "then why don't you agree to the bet?"  
  
"Sure," Chikara mused, "but only because the likelihood is in my favour."  
  
"Good, settled." Eienno walked away to go see what everyone was up to. He spotted Hanna in the kitchen and decided that he'd play some head games before he turned to responsibility.  
  
He peered over at her.  
  
"What are you doing?" he asked sternly.  
  
"Nothing that involves you," replied Hanna.  
  
"Is that so?" he walked past her, just as she backed up to yell at him. She turned walking right into his rock hard chest. She looked up at him; he looked down at her. They frowned.  
  
"Why are you in here?" she said strongly.  
  
"To bug you," said Eienno.  
  
"Why do you want to bug me?" she chided.  
  
"Because you look funny when you're annoyed," he looked down at her then walked to the table, sitting down near the wall where he could stare.  
  
She felt him watch her. Part of her enjoyed it, but the other screamed at him for groping her with his eyes.  
  
"Is there a problem?" she asked him, looking in his direction.  
  
"No," he replied.  
  
"Then look at something else," she said bitterly.  
  
He continued to look at her. What Yukkarie had said about her was right. Hanna had a perfect body. Her curves were in just the right spot to make Eienno wish he'd waited before he married Yukkarie. Her hips swayed slightly as she put spices on the steak. They made such an erotic motion that Eienno found himself almost drooling.  
  
'Why do seem to want her so much?' he thought to himself. 'I only met her three days ago.'  
  
Hanna could feel that Eienno wasn't about to stop starring at her. She tried to ignore it, but the feeling of his eyes on her skin was making her wish that she was in his arms, standing as close to him as she was a moment ago.  
  
'Why do I enjoy him watching me?' She turned around and decided then and there that she'd respond differently, whether her mind liked it or not.  
  
"Would you stop starring at me!" she yelled, making her voice echo through the shuttle.  
  
"No," he chided in return.  
  
"Do you have nothing better to do?" she said, calmly.  
  
"No," he chided again.  
  
"Go away," she turned and returned to her cooking.  
  
Karameki watched them from outside the door. She realized that they looked as though they were depriving themselves of something that both of them really needed. She couldn't tell what, but she knew it had something to do with each other.  
  
She thought about for a few minutes while they bickered in the kitchen over him starring at her.  
  
'Maybe,' she thought, 'maybe they just need to be close to each other.' She smiled inwardly and walked in.  
  
"Hanna," she said mischievously. "How about you sit down and relax for a few minute? I'll do some of the cooking while you rest."  
  
"Sure," said Hanna, handing over the cooking utensils she was holding and sat down beside Eienno. She gave Karameki a suspicious look.  
  
Karameki looked over at Eienno and Hanna. They looked oddly comfortable or at least more so then before. She noticed them eyeing each other through the corners of their eyes. She could see Hanna's eyes look Eienno up and down a couple times.  
  
She couldn't understand his actions though. He sat there and occasionally looked over at her, but for some reason looked away for seconds at a time, and then he'd look at her again. He closed his eyes, resting his head on the table and covered his face with his arms.  
  
He looked as though he was trying to avoid the thought of someone or something. Karameki couldn't figure out why he was hiding.  
  
She decided she'd talk to him later, when Hanna was having dinner with Chikara and wouldn't be able to hear anything.  
  
Hanna thanked Karameki for finishing her cooking for her. She fed everyone but herself and Chikara, then threw everything else in the oven and looked around the shuttle for a better place to eat. She found a sliding balcony door and opened it. When she saw what was up the stairs behind the door, she sighed in disbelief. It was too perfect. It was a rather large room with the entire ceiling made of glass and a small two-person table in the middle. She smiled when she noticed that there was a boom box was sitting in the corner. She looked through the CD's for the perfect selection. She almost wanted to toss all the 'romantic' stuff into space, but stacked them in a pile close to the back of the box they were stored in. She found some jazz, and even though she found it old and more so, boring, she thought it perfect for the occasion and popped the CD into the carousel. She pushed play and listened to parts of a few of the songs and decided that the songs were better then most and she'd use that CD to dance to later in the night.  
  
She jumped at the chance to impress Chikara and fought with herself to quickly set up for dinner. Surprisingly, she had everything set up in a matter of minutes.  
  
She used the white dishes from the cupboard because they would reflect the stars the best and then found some glass utensils in the drawers that she picked. She dug around for napkins, or at least really pretty dishrags. She did manage to find some cloth napkins and folded then so they stood elegantly on the dishes. She put the food on serving dishes and set them up on a small nightstand like table. She looked at her creations and congratulated herself, removing the apron from around her waist.  
  
Hanna began to look around the shuttle for Chikara. When she found him, she gently took his hand in hers.  
  
He looked at her, "Hi."  
  
"Dinner's ready," she said softly. He smiled at the news. She kept her hand locked in his and led him to the room she'd found to eat in.  
  
He looked her over. She had dressed in simple clothes that flattered her in every possible way. Even though she was only dressed casually, she looked elegant and pretty. She looked better then Chikara could've ever imagined.  
  
He looked around the room. It was gorgeous. She had done a beautiful job and was very concise with everything she'd done. She sat him down, anxiously awaiting his expression when he tasted her food. She dished it out and then sat herself down.  
  
She smiled when he began to eat and congratulated herself on how pleased he looked.  
  
Karameki found Eienno in the weight room by himself. She walked in a closed the door behind her, locking it as well.  
  
Eienno gave her a strange look.  
  
"Sorry if I'm coming off weird," she explained, "but I need to talk to you about something."  
  
"What?" he remarked.  
  
"Is there something on your mind you need to tell someone about?" she asked concernedly. "I'm a good secret-keeper."  
  
"No," he replied, effortlessly lifting his weight.  
  
"Are you sure?" she questioned again. "I saw the look on your face when you were sitting beside Hanna today."  
  
"I'm sure," he frowned, glaring at her. He saw the concern she was feeling for him. "Swear on your life you won't tell a god damned soul."  
  
"I swear," she promised with her fingers in the 'scout's honour' salute.  
  
"I mean it," he growled.  
  
"So do I," she emphasized.  
  
"I have a tiny, itty, bitty, little crush on her," he explained, expecting Karameki to know whom he was talking about.  
  
"Oh," she said.  
  
"The real problem with that though," he started, "is that I like her more and more every time I see her. Her movements, the way she talks, what she says, the way she looks, she's perfect."  
  
"Sorry," she said, "but I don't know why that's a problem."  
  
"I'm not ready to say why it's a problem," he corrected. "If and when I tell you, you'll know why it's a big problem."  
  
"Okay," she sighed, happy that he'd trusted her enough to say anything. She hesitated for a second then looked at him, "Why don't you tell her you feel that way?"  
  
"Because," he said, "not only is she with someone already, but she probably wishes I would die."  
  
"I know that's wrong," she comforted. "Have you seen how she looks at you and acts around you?"  
  
"No," he answered, looking at the wall.  
  
"She looks at you with care and compassion, as well as passion and love," she informed, "she acts like she should belong to you and you should belong to her. When you're not around her, she's a lot more quiet and shy. You are already a pillar of strength to her."  
  
"Yeah right," he mumbled sarcastically. "She wouldn't already love me or feel passionate about me."  
  
"Haven't you heard of love at first sight?" she wondered.  
  
"I don't believe in it," he answered.  
  
"I didn't," she said, "until I met you and Hanna."  
  
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" he said, irritated at her remark.  
  
"I mean I've never seen to people click like you and Hanna have," she said. "When you walked in behind Hanna, she had a confidence about her. I remember thinking, 'my gosh those two are the cutest and best matched people I had ever imagined.'"  
  
"That's bull," he muttered bitterly.  
  
"No," she said, "and I'm sure that everyone thought the same thing until she asked Chikara."  
  
"Exactly," he expressed loudly, "I'm of not importance to her. Proof being, she asked Chikara about dinner with her."  
  
"That says nothing," she contradicted hastily. "That could mean she's confused about her feelings."  
  
"You know what?" he remarked, "Who cares? I'm not interested in being with her; or at least my mind isn't."  
  
Karameki looked at him. He looked as though his mind was tearing itself apart. She knew she shouldn't have bothered him and left on the spot. She felt a little embarrassed that she'd interfered on the wrong grounds like she had.but she still knew she was right about them. They were the perfect pair, she was sure of it. She was going to help them become something to each other and not to come off as right, but for her Hanna and Eienno.  
  
Hanna looked at Chikara. They'd eaten dinner in a comfortable silence, and were now ready to talk to each other.  
  
"So," he sighed contentedly, "how did you come to be in the military?"  
  
"My mother and father were both high-ranking military officials," she explained, sipping her wine. "They had so much fun doing their jobs, that they wanted it to be an option for me."  
  
"That's interesting," he said truthfully.  
  
"How about you?"  
  
"I decided that I wanted to be in the military when I first found out that the colonies became a 'nation' of their own," he started. "I heard on the news one day, that they needed men and women to join the military ranks, just in case a war broke in the solar system."  
  
"That's why I became a doctor," she informed, "I've always wanted to be someone to help or even save other people, no matter where they are from or what they were doing when they were injured. I think wars are possibly the weakest form of negotiating I've ever come to see."  
  
"Then why did you join?" he wondered.  
  
"Same reason I'm a doctor." She looked into his eyes, noticing he was a little confused, "I wanted to help save people and being in a battle, where lots of people are being killed. That way I could help at least one person to come back to his or her family."  
  
"You're a very loving person, aren't you?" he asked, as though he had just realized it.  
  
"I don't know," she replied as she began to blush. "Are you?"  
  
"I guess I don't know either." He smiled at her.  
  
She reached across the table and put her hand on his. She looked over to the boom box and pressed play on the remote.  
  
"Would you like to dance?" she asked, as soon as the music started.  
  
"Sure," he said, "but you're going to have to teach me what to do."  
  
"That'll be fun," she said happily. She almost jumped out of her seat towards the biggest spot in the room.  
  
She gestured Chikara to come to her and took his head. She placed one hand on her waist and the other, she held in her hand.  
  
"Let the rhythm control your feet and let me control your movements," she instructed.  
  
Chikara did as he was told and was quickly dancing with her. He smiled at her when she pressed hers elf against him.  
  
She looked over to the door and saw Eienno walk by. She rolled her eyes in displeasure, but she didn't know just what she which she was more displeased with, the fact that Eienno was outside the door or the fact that he wasn't in the room with her, dancing with her in his arms. She closed her eyes and daydreamt about what it might be like to dance with Eienno. She smiled as she did, but somehow still managed to maintain herself while dancing with Chikara.  
  
Eienno could hear the music from outside the door and could see that Hanna was showing major signs of liking Chikara.  
  
He couldn't figure out why Karameki would think that he had something with Hanna. He could tell that she'd figured out why he liked to pick on Hanna so much, but he dreaded that she'd tell her about it. He knew she was the type to keep her word, by was still afraid that she would big mouth someday.  
  
He desperately needed to phone Yukkarie and get the thoughts of Hanna out of his mind. He took one of the satellite phones from the control room and locked himself in his room, making doubly sure that both doors were locked.  
  
He dialed the number and waited impatiently for her to answer.  
  
"Hello."  
  
The sound of her voice released the tension from ever muscle in his body.  
  
"Hi, Hun," he said in reply.  
  
"Hi, Eienno," she said happily. "How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine," he said, "how about you, you doing alright?"  
  
"Of course," she replied, "I just miss you. That's the only thing bothering me right now."  
  
"I miss you too," he said, "I swear, if I could I would turn back time to when I agreed to going on this godforsaken mission, if I could hug you right now.  
  
"It's that bad, huh?" she remarked. "Are you getting along with everyone, or is something bothering you?"  
  
"I'm getting along with almost everyone." He looked at the wall that separated Hanna's room from his. "There's just a lot of stuff that's really bugging me."  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?" she questioned concernedly.  
  
"I'm not exactly getting along with that Hanna chick you told me about," he started. "No offence to you, but she has a way of tranquilizing me without even coming within a metre of me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love you and if I had the chance, I'd die for you, but something she does makes me feel the same about her."  
  
"You know," explained Yukkarie, "that's always what's happened. I can't get mad at you or her for it. I'm fully aware that she's got that something about her that makes her completely irresistible. Ever boyfriend I've ever had has told me that. I can't fold you against it either."  
  
"Thank you for understanding," he said. "Your understanding is what made me fall in love with you."  
  
"What's brought on "I love you" all of a sudden?" asked Yukkarie suspiciously.  
  
"I don't know," he said, "I guess I feel that since I can't show you anymore, I have to tell you more often."  
  
Yukkarie laughed pleasantly, "You're so good with words sometimes."  
  
"Am I?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah," she giggled into the phone. "I'm sorry, baby. I have to go."  
  
"So soon?"  
  
"I have work in the morning and you called me a little late," she explained.  
  
"Oh," sighed Eienno looking at his watch. "I'm sorry, I didn't really realize I'd called that late. I'll let you go."  
  
"I love you," she said.  
  
"I love you, too," he replied.  
  
"I miss you so much."  
  
"I miss you too."  
  
"Bye," and with that, she hung up the phone. Eienno was in no rush to hang up the phone, so he kept it against his ear for a few seconds. When he finally realized she was gone, he hung up the phone and flopped down on his bed. He moved his body close the edge of the bed and put his arm out over the rest. He wished Yukkarie were there. Deep down, he knew that he would prefer Hanna in his arms, but it was an impossible dream.  
  
Hanna and Chikara had finished their "date." Hanna was in her room, changing into her orange pajamas. She'd had a great time with Chikara that night and was looking forward to the next get together they'd have. She danced around her room until she flopped onto her bed.  
  
'That was probably the best time I've ever had,' she told herself. 'And he didn't step on my toe once.'  
  
She looked at the wall next to her. It was the same wall that Eienno had been looking at a minute ago. She knew that he was on the only side of the wall, sleeping right beside her. It kind of bothered her, though, and she didn't know why she felt that way or what made her feel that way.  
  
She rolled over and pulled the covers onto her body. She was slow to fall asleep, but when she did, she found herself undisturbed.  
  
Eienno felt strange. He had a weird feeling that something was going to happen. Usually when he had these feelings, there really was a happening on the way. He had the same feeling when he first saw Yukkarie, as well as before he'd gotten the phone call from Meeko-Bei. Of course, this feeling was a bad feeling, opposite of the one he had when he met Yukkarie.  
  
Something pulled on his stomach and gave him one of the worst headaches he'd ever had. He got up and once again, went to the control room to look at everything around him. The excitement he'd felt when he left on the way had already gone and turned into loneliness and heartache. Even the thrill of being in charge of everyone was gone. He wanted to be equal with everyone else. He didn't want them to call him 'sir' anymore. He missed the days when he was lowest in rank and had nothing to go by. Those were the days when he had friends who were always around him and Yukkarie was always around him. Then he heard Hanna bump the wall and his train of thoughts were interrupted.  
  
He looked at the part of the wall were Hanna would be lying in her bed. He wanted to be on the other side, cuddling her and soothing the part of her body that had hit the wall.  
  
He couldn't understand how his own mind could be having such a fickle war with itself. He loved Yukkarie, then liked Hanna, then loved Hanna, then wanted to be with Yukkarie, and then wanted to be with Hanna. His mind was now massively confused.  
  
He looked at the stars outside and found that the asteroid belt was approaching soon. That took his mind off the Hanna and Yukkarie predicament he was in and he finally was able to go to bed and sleep.  
  
Karameki was starting to fell like the mother of everyone. She knew she was one of the oldest, but she didn't want to feel like she was really old.  
  
She looked at the ceiling. So far, she'd looked after and learned a lot about everyone. She found out that Hanna had a problem with being stared at, and that Eienno was the only person that Hanna didn't react the same way to. She found out that Eienno had a very covered background that he wouldn't be able to talk about for a long time. She found out that Hanna could cook, clean, and command in very organized fashions. But one thing really confused her, the fact that getting love to know love is a hard thing to rush. It would take a long time for Eienno to realize that Hanna wanted him as much as he wanted her.  
  
Chikara was jealous that everyone seemed to think that Eienno and Hanna would end up together. He didn't like the way they couldn't admit that he and Hanna had become something and were going to stay something for a long time to come. He looked at the crevasses in the walls and the ceiling. They always seemed to change on him. Maybe it was that he'd gone to bed every night with a different mood. The first night, he was excited and scared, but saw happy things in between the stucco. But tonight, he felt like there was something up there that was out to get him and kill him when found. The little green monster of jealousy was hovering over him with a vengeance that no crush would hide.  
  
Eienno and Hanna would become something, and Chikara knew it. He hid it from himself, though, so that he could at least imagine that he had the woman all men would portray as perfect.  
  
Hanna woke the next morning, and was the first to rise. She took advantage of being the early bird and intended on having a shower long enough to use up the majority of the warm water.  
  
That was until Eienno managed to get up and somehow beat her to the shower. She sat outside the door and waited for the shower to turn off. She knew he was being slow to get her angry. She stood up and looked the door from top to bottom.  
  
"Would you please, hurry the hell up?" she said, getting irritated that he'd take a long shower, just when she needed to relax.  
  
She heard him say something from inside, "no freaking way."  
  
She growled to herself and perched herself on the door. The shower turned off. She didn't expect he'd be out until he'd finished everything he needed to do. To her shock and his amusement, he swung the door open and she flew backwards, right into him. She narrowed her eyes into a frown that could kill a donkey.  
  
"Asshole," she mumbled, getting up and shoving him out. "Thank you for hurrying."  
  
"Your welcome," he chided.  
  
She looked at him, closing the door as she did.  
  
"Stupid ass," she said aloud to herself. "Sometimes I just wish you would die." 


	5. Adventure Begins Best chapter so far

Chapter Five: Adventure Begins  
  
  
  
  
  
Hanna had finished her shower and was cooking breakfast, happily by herself.  
  
Eienno stood in the doorway looking at Hanna. She seemed either really nervous or really worried about something. He couldn't see a reason for her discomfort.  
  
Cordelia sat at the table, looking at Eienno, then at Hanna, then back to Eienno. She couldn't figure out why he couldn't keep his eyes away from her, and why she couldn't keep her nerve when he was around. She noticed that Hanna's skin was starting to look flushed and red, then she saw Eienno's body tighten as though he could feel her discomfort.  
  
Both Eienno and Hanna had a certain something about them that made them look as though they were going to move towards each other.  
  
Hanna felt 'his' eyes on her back again. Every time he looked at her like he did, she'd feel like he was feeling her skin with his hands and it made her nervous to imagine yet another guy feeling her up without her knowing or wanting him to. She looked behind her to see if he was there. She saw him lurking in the door.  
  
She turned around upon seeing him. She'd known he was there but still found herself feeling afraid of him for some odd reason. She leaned back when he walked into the kitchen and started towards her. She lost awareness of herself and accidentally placed her hand on the burner.  
  
She looked at her hand.  
  
Cordelia chuckled under her breath so that neither would hear. She could sense that the subconscious of Hanna wanted to hold Eienno tightly, and never let him go; Eienno's pulled him towards Hanna, while his body didn't want to go and wanted to fight an urge to screw up.  
  
"What the fuck are you doing?" she yelled, beginning to hyperventilate angrily.  
  
"Nothing," said Eienno sarcastically. "I want food, without a fight."  
  
"Keep dreaming then," she yelled, "Piss off."  
  
"No," he mumbled as he came into the kitchen.  
  
"Now," she began to calm down. She turned on the tap and ran the cold water over her burn.  
  
"No, but I order you to tell me why are you so anxious right now?" he asked harshly.  
  
"You scared me," she said. "I'm damn sure you meant to too."  
  
"No, I just." he could himself wanting to admit he liked her and froze. ".Wanted food."  
  
Cordelia chuckled again. Eienno's hesitation gave her a clue as to what may go on in the next few months, weeks or even days.  
  
"So you sit there and stare, making me go totally nuts," she informed, sarcastically. "Piss off and let me cook."  
  
"Fine." He walked off. 'Why the hell is she so anxious?' he wondered worriedly. 'Did I make her that uncomfortable?' He figured she must have had a moment where she felt like throwing up and he just happened to be lurking in the door at that time.  
  
She couldn't figure it out. She hated him for always finding a way to make her feel like she was being held in uncomfortably tantalizing ways.  
  
'Why would he even be interested in me?' she asked herself, 'I mean, he's probably got a girlfriend waiting for him to come home. More so, why do I seem to be interested in him?'  
  
Hanna dismissed the thought and headed to her room.  
  
"You never noticed me here." She watched Hanna become uncomfortable again.  
  
'Great,' thought Hanna stopped just before the door, 'the psychiatrist to tell me I love someone I hate to the death.'  
  
"No, I guess I was preoccupied." She looked at her burn; it was beginning to blister.  
  
"I don't think that was the problem," she said, knowingly. "Why did you look so pale just then?"  
  
"What's with all the god damn questions?" said Hanna. She'd never been as irritated as she was at that moment. "Leave me alone so I can relax before I need to sleep."  
  
"Okay," Cordelia walked out of the room. She knew why Hanna was so agitated. She wasn't about to begin to assume things about her captain, but she was about to start keeping a careful watch on her, just to make sure she wasn't getting too sick to do things.  
  
Hanna didn't quite have her senses back when she began to cook again. She didn't know why she got so sick when he starred. It didn't happen with anyone but him. Was it where he looked or how he looked? She just couldn't figure it out. Within all her training she hadn't heard of any sicknesses like that of what she seemed to be getting.  
  
She dismissed the thought and began to focus on making dinner again.  
  
  
  
Eienno was in a thoughtless daze. He didn't care about a thing in the world right now. He didn't even care if he died right then and there, at least he'd be at peace.  
  
He had to admit, he was seriously missing Yukkarie at that moment. He wanted to hold her tightly in his arms for security. Even though it was obvious to him and others he was developing a likeness for Hanna, he only liked her, he loved Yukkarie and would still be willing to do anything for her, no matter the cost. He didn't want to call her, considering the assumption she'd be asleep by now. He sat up in his bed, now miserable from the feeling of loneliness and chill. He walked into the cabin to be greeted by his crew.  
  
"Hi, Eienno," said Karameki with a tired smile. "How you doing?"  
  
"Miserable," he replied, irritated that everyone was there.  
  
"Why?" asked Cordelia with a glare that could kill a bat.  
  
"Because," he hesitated, wondering if he should tell them exactly why. "I miss someone back home."  
  
Karameki looked at her screen, "I think you might just want to look at this, sir." She gestured him to come.  
  
"Yeah," he said carelessly, "It's the asteroid belt."  
  
"Yeah," mocked Karameki, "full of debris, that we need Hanna to fly us through. We've only got one co-pilot and he isn't yet qualified enough to fly us through."  
  
"Slow our speed and gravitation spin," he said calmly, as he headed for his door. "I'll go get our missing members."  
  
He disappeared into his room and into the hallway on the other side. He had to push off wall with his arms, as there was only enough gravity to hold him down. He entered the kitchen and found the door to the balcony.  
  
Hanna looked over at Chikara. They were eating their second dinner together and were quite enjoying themselves.  
  
She was startled when the engines sounded slightly and she began to feel weight loss on her body. All of a sudden, Eienno burst through the door.  
  
"Get your lazy asses to the control room to do your jobs," he demanded with seriousness staining his every movement and word.  
  
Hanna and Chikara obeyed their commander without question. Knowing her seat was nowhere near the controls as there were two spots with hand controls, Hanna pranced to Sebastien's seat at the controls as soon as she reached the control room.  
  
Sebastien sat willingly in Hanna's spot as Chikara sat down in his. They all strapped themselves into their seats upon order from Eienno. Hanna was calm and prepared for what was coming. She had flown through the asteroid belt before and was well equipped with the appropriate maneuvers to avoid the billions of pieces that would fly at them. She forgot to consider that the shuttle she'd flown in before was tem times smaller than the one she was in this time.  
  
They could now see everything in plain view now. Small bits and pieces of rubble and debris began to harmlessly hit the front window of the shuttle, growing gradually bigger in size until they were big enough to be mistaken for small moons. Fortunately, Hanna was able to steer the shuttle out of the way before there could be any chances of hitting something.  
  
They safely cruised though the asteroids without hitting or even coming close to hitting anything that could damage the shuttle.  
  
"There's a colony on the other side that we will be stopping at for supplies," informed Karameki with sternness. She looked at her radar, just as Hanna made her way around an asteroid. "Hanna," she muttered nervously. "There's something coming."  
  
Out of nowhere, came a rather large chuck of rock, striking the side of the shuttle where the engines had been built. The lights fluttered off, leaving a small amount of energy and fuel to get out without more damage. Hanna sped up a little to make sure no more rocks would damage the ship that bad. She was quick to get out and soon found everyone safe outside the rock barrier. She turned to Tomodachi.  
  
"How bad is it?" she asked froze in her seat.  
  
"It's worse then bad," she muttered bitterly. "Almost all of our engines are damaged but one. There was only enough in that one to get us here."  
  
"That was a dumb move," said Eienno harshly. "Why the hell do I trust you at all?"  
  
She glared at him spitefully. "Instead of being an asshole, how about you help me and your damned crew get to the stinking colony for repairs?" She began to hyperventilate in panic.  
  
"That could be a thought," he teased, "except for the fact that we are stranded here, probably loosing a hell of a lot of O2 and be not remaining calm, you're going to kill us off!"  
  
"Hello," she said sarcastically, "the ships O2 supply isn't going to run short. There are O2 filters that don't need electricity; they are made with natural filtration. Remember, trees and plants. Duh!"  
  
Karameki looked at the two; something looked like they wanted to fall into each others arms and something else told her they hated each other so much they didn't want to know each other anymore. "You know what, you two?" she said angrily. "Instead of you screwing us all up and getting us all miserable, I'm going to take higher position without being ordered by anyone and leave you to tough it out like idiots." She peered over a Tomodachi. "Is there any way we can get enough power to get to the colony. It's not that far away."  
  
Tomodachi smiled at Karameki for her brave decision. She quickly typed something into the computer and he smile disappeared from her face.  
  
"Yes, but it would mean someone would have to put their life in danger," she looked around at everyone. "Someone tall, strong and incredibly brave." She looked at Chikara, who watched Eienno and Hanna like he was a hawk protecting its territory. "Chikara," she said gently, trying to find the right words to explain what needed to be done. "You're the only person who won't argue and I'm sure you're strong enough. Can you remember something without thinking about it for long though?"  
  
"Yeah," he said, finally paying attention to the situation on hand. "What are you talking about, so I know what you're getting me into?"  
  
"I need you to go and fix a broken cord in the engine." She looked back to the screen. "You'll know which one it is because it's the only one not fully damaged and not unharmed. It will have a fuel gage on it that says it's full, but will have no power. Can you find it?"  
  
He nodded, knowing it was his responsibility to listen to Tomodachi's instructions and Karameki's leadership. "I'm going to need a suit," he said to Sebastien, who jumped at the opportunity to help. He grabbed the suit that looked the biggest and ran it back to his crewmate.  
  
"Here," he said, handing pieces of it to him at a time. He began with the body suit and slid it up his clothes, then the gloves and boots that were slid over his own.  
  
The suit was a grayish colour and wasn't at all bulky. It fit him as though it was made for him and fit snuggly around him. Sebastien fit the helmet on and fastened it securely to his suit. "You're good to go."  
  
"We'll need someone to stand nearby," said Karameki, "you know, just in case something happens."  
  
"I'll go," said Hanna. "I'm the doctor. Who would be better?" There was a tiny bit of enthusiasm in her voice. She grabbed her own suit and was able to put it on with only a little aid from Sebastien to fasten it.  
  
"Good luck," he said gingerly.  
  
"I'll need it."  
  
"What you need to do," started Tomodachi. "Is to go to the girl's hangout and find a door. It's an airtight door, just like the one to get out of the shuttle. It doesn't lead outside, but leads to where the damage is. Be careful that you don't let the vacuum suck you out. It'll pull you right out into space. Empty every last little bit of air out of the air chamber before you exit it. Make sure that before you even begin to empty the chamber, you lock the door to get back in, so no air is lost in here. When you get there, Hanna will stay in the chamber with the door open and watch out for Chikara. Chikara goes in and finds the wires, then connects them, colour to corresponding colour. Then get out of there so we can go.  
  
With that Hanna and Chikara headed to where they had been instructed to by Tomodachi. They headed down the hallway, not saying a word to each other. They enter the women's room and quickly found the right door. They opened the airtight door and climbed through, locking it and pushing the button to evacuate the air supply. Once the gage on the wall proved that there was absolutely no air in the chamber, they opened the door to allow Chikara to exit.  
  
Chikara looked around the engines and found the one that he needed to fix. He reached up and realized he was about two inches too short to repair the busted wires. He floated back to the air chamber and explained his predicament to Tomodachi and Karameki.  
  
Hanna could picture what was going to happen. Eienno was the tallest person there and was probably a good five inches taller then Chikara. They'd send him out the fix it, and she'd get stuck looking out for him.  
  
Back in the control room, Tomodachi, Cordelia, Sebastien and Karameki looked over at Eienno. He leaned against the wall and looked at the floor.  
  
His head shot up when he realized that they were looking at him.  
  
"What do you want?" he said tonelessly.  
  
"Eienno," started Karameki, "You're the only person tall enough."  
  
"Fine," he said walking to the air-suits and sliding one on. He knew that if he didn't help, eventually they'd run out of food and supplies; that would mean that they would die, bringing all the colonies with them.  
  
He managed to get the whole suit on without anyone's help and headed back to the shuttle engines. He met up with Chikara and Hanna, who waited for him in the air chamber. He made Chikara leave, as there was little room in the air chamber for more than one person. He floated past Hanna, bumping up against her without even think about what he was doing. She could feel the curves his muscles made as his body glided across hers.  
  
When he realized he was getting into her "comfort zone," he pushed off the floor to avoid any confrontation. He made his way into the masses of engine.  
  
Hanna could barely see him from where she was. She felt something bubble in the pit of her stomach; something that made her shutter.  
  
He quickly found the wires he needed to fix and connected them as he was instructed to. The energy gage then showed that there was power in the engine again.  
  
All of a sudden there was a loud crash from one of the broken engines.  
  
Hanna jumped worriedly when one of the engines blew up, shooting jagged pieces of iron towards Eienno.  
  
"Watch out!" she cried.  
  
Eienno turned just in time to get hit by a large, oily piece of metal. He got hit right in the middle of his chest, just above his abdomen. A bunch of little pieces continued to strike him in many different spots, making huge gouges in his arms and legs.  
  
Once the debris stopped, Hanna jumped out of the chamber to retrieve Eienno. She pushed off towards the chamber, with him in her caring arms. She closed the door and locked it, letting the air back in. She took off his helmet as fast as she could, letting him get fresh oxygen. She opened the door to the main areas of the shuttle and pulled him in. It was easy because Tomodachi hadn't turned on the gravity yet, but hard because Eienno couldn't help. She pulled Eienno to the couch and pushed herself to the control room.  
  
"What was that?" said Tomodachi, seeing Hanna burst in the door and throw stuff around the room.  
  
"An explosion. Hurry, give me gravity, I need to help him," ordered Hanna, carelessly digging through the first aid closet for surgical equipment and the proper bandaging.  
  
"Why?" asked Chikara, "What happened?"  
  
"I'll explain later," she said hurriedly. The gravity switched on, bringing Hanna to the floor with a boom. She quickly picked herself up and grabbed the bag labeled 'surgical,' and ran off to the room she had Eienno stationed in. Everyone else followed her intently, wanting to know why she was so rushed. They looked on it horror when they saw him on the couch with billions of little slivers stabbed into his skin and a huge stake-like chuck of metal in his chest.  
  
"Get me an X-ray, now," she ordered, resting on the ground near the low- leveled couch. She gently stroked his forehead, not understanding why she felt like she needed to help him so much. He shuttered under her touch. He was now unconscious and unable to object to anything she was doing. 'Why am I so anxious to protect him? Oh, this is all my fault," she thought to herself, rocks of guilt filling her stomach angrily. 'I shouldn't have been going so fast. If I hadn't warned him, he wouldn't have been hit. I'm such an idiot.'  
  
The hand held X-ray finally arrived. She turned it on and scanned over his chest wound, which at that point was the most serious of his injuries.  
  
'Oh no,' she thought to herself, 'it's so close to his heart. His lung, oh no.' She felt so protective, he couldn't die, not when she could help him. She knew, now, exactly what to do. She ran to the bathroom, calling Chikara to bring her the sanitized gear from the kit, leaving them in the packaging.  
  
She pulled off her blood drenched body suit and combed her hair back. She washed her arms to the elbows and got Chikara to pull the cover over top of her. He did so without second thoughts and then she slid her gloves on, ready to perform surgery.  
  
She removed his clothing with the aide of her scalpel, careful not to cut him.  
  
"Aren't you going to give him sleep or pain medicine?" asked Cordelia, like the know-it-all she was.  
  
"Hello, does it look like he needs to be put to sleep?" retorted Hanna, turning her covered face to frown at Cordelia for a quick second. "Now shut up and let me work. Get out and leave me alone until I need you."  
  
They all left, full of concern for both Eienno and Hanna.  
  
Hanna cut small slits down Eienno's chest, above and below the wound. She looked at how deep it went and checked if it was caught on anything. When she found it wasn't, she pulled it out, preparing herself for his blood to gush. She quickly prepared stitches to close up the lung. She began to sew the broken tissue, before he fully lost the ability to breath. It only took her seconds to fix him, before she cleaned the wound and closed it up. She wrapped his chest, putting a non-stick adhesive over the wound and holding there by tying it tightly with an adhesive roll. She cleaned the rest of his blood drenched body and pulled her mask down her face to peck him lightly on the cheek. She dismissed herself to go clean up and shower herself.  
  
"Chikara!" she called gently. He rushed to where she was in the hallway.  
  
"Yeah?" he responded, "Do you need something?"  
  
"I know he's got a gigantic body, but could you carry him to his room without ripping his stitches?" she asked, "You'd have to carry him like you'd carry a women."  
  
"Sure," he said, "Anything to help you out."  
  
Hanna threw her stuff in the garbage and tried to relax her nerves. She locked herself in the bathroom and striped to take a bath. She really needed to calm herself or she'd have a nervous breakdown. She turned the hot water on and climbed into the tub, desperately needing cleaning. She sighed as the water covered her tired body. She turned on the jets and turned off the tap when the water was high enough it wouldn't splash over. She dazed out and dismissed her worries for a few short minutes before she climbed out to go to sleep.  
  
The next day, the first thing Hanna did when she woke, was check on Eienno, he was starting to show signs of coming back now. She hooked up an IV, which she found was too difficult and dangerous to do the day before, and began to try and feel his heart beat with her hand.  
  
"Eienno?" she said, attempting to wake him up. His eyes only fluttered a little, but remained closed. Her face felt heavy, she could smile or even pretend she looked happy. She stood up off her knees and headed for the door.  
  
"I thought you never." he said painfully, ".wanted to help me."  
  
"Eienno?" she said with a lightening of her heart. "Are you beginning to come to."  
  
"Am I ever fully awake?" he said with a weakened smirk.  
  
"Oh," she sighed in relief. "I am so sorry, I never meant for you to get hurt so badly. I swear, I didn't know that rock was there, I."  
  
"Shut up," he said gently, "that wasn't your fault."  
  
"Yes," she said regretfully, "I wasn't looking hard enough, I was driving too fast, and I did so many wrong things."  
  
"But I'm still not dead," he interrupted again. "I'm not dead because of you."  
  
"I'm going to go," she said, quietly. "You should sleep." She walked away, no longer seeming to care. Now that he was beginning to heal as quickly as he was, she could leave the responsibilities of him to someone else. For some reason, she felt like she was leaving something behind. It was the same feeling she'd had with Chikara. She just didn't car anymore.  
  
Chikara met her in the hall, "Oh, hey?" he said. "What's up?"  
  
"Nothing," she answered, "He's awake, and he's healing well already. I think he'll be fine before long, a week maybe a little more."  
  
"No," said Chikara, when he figured she was done, "with you?"  
  
"Oh, me?" she asked, shocked he'd even care to hear.  
  
"I'm." she didn't know if she wanted to say. ".I don't know."  
  
"Come here," he instructed, taking her hand, "I've got a surprise for you." He led her to the kitchen and then into the dinning room again. He had breakfast on the table and was more than ready to eat it.  
  
"I made pancakes, eggs, waffles, you name it, I got it," he pulled a chair out for her to sit in. "What would you like?" He walked over to a large banquet table with her plate in one hand and a serving spoon in the other.  
  
"I don't know," she said in shock. "Waffles maybe?"  
  
"Blueberry, or strawberry?" he pointed to the dishes holding the waffles on them and smiled cheerily.  
  
She felt happy that he'd gone to all the trouble for her, and only after one date. "Strawberry."  
  
"No kidding," he sighed, "That's what I would've chosen. Hey, after we eat you can tell me what's on your mind."  
  
"There isn't anything on my mind that I need to talk about."  
  
"I doubt that," said Chikara with a friendly grin. "You don't look like you have nothing on your mind."  
  
"I'll tell you after," she caved, being easily convinced by his knowingness.  
  
"Cool," he said handing her the dish. "Do you want any syrup?"  
  
"No, thanks," she said, grabbing the plate and cutting at her food, starved and eager to eat.  
  
Chikara looked at her in surprise. And then ate with her, enjoying the sudden peace she seemed to have had fallen over her.  
  
He peered at her every so often, making sure she was still eating and enjoying the breakfast he had fixed especially for her.  
  
After they'd both finished, he looked into her eyes and starred at her depths. He could see that there was something there that couldn't be explained.  
  
"So," he said, "You going to tell me now?"  
  
She smiled, knowing she could finally trust someone. "Sure." Her features tightened, as if anxiety was tugging at her again. "I can't stand his cockiness," she started.  
  
"Who's he?"  
  
"You should be able to guess easily, who I'm talking to." She starred at him.  
  
"Oh, him," he said, lightening the situation a little, "continue."  
  
"I do something nice for him and he shows absolutely no gratitude, but somehow I feel like I'm responsible for him, like I should make sure he doesn't get hurt in such a way, it could end his life." She looked him in the eyes. "I hate him. What came over me yesterday that made me throw all you guys out, just to save him? Why did I feel that need to help? Why can't I stop caring?"  
  
"Because you're a great person, with a perfect heart," answered Chikara, talking with seriousness, for once. "Everyone here knows you had to help him, because you are the most caring and smart person they've ever met."  
  
"You think so?" she said, admiring his every word.  
  
"With all my body and mind," he answered.  
  
She smiled, loosening up again. She loved him for saying that. He had no idea how much better his words made her feel. She couldn't see anything breaking her relationship with him.ever. 


	6. A New Station

Chapter Six A New Station  
  
  
  
  
  
Karameki was looking after Eienno by the order of Hanna. She'd been instructed to make sure that he'd had everything he needed.  
  
She just sat though and starred at him. He wasn't going to wake up much anymore, the last few time. But, as always, Eienno proved him wrong.  
  
"Where's Hanna?" he said, with a strange sort of concern.  
  
She cocked her eyebrow and then looked at him.  
  
"She told me to look after you," she replied. "Do you mind? Or did you want her to look after you?"  
  
"I don't really care," he attempted to pull the covers off to see the damage done to him. "I just want to heal soon."  
  
"Oh," she looked over at his chest, which hid under the blankets. "Do you want her to come and help?"  
  
"How'd you know?" he asked in reply to her question.  
  
"I have a way with figuring things out."  
  
"I see," he felt pressure in his chest, pressure that hurt against his stitching. "Is that how you found out that I liked her?"  
  
"Yep," she headed to the door. "She'll be here in a minute. Oh and by the way," she paused. "This is all the proof you need to know that she at least likes you."  
  
"No it's not," he remarked, "proof would be her saying it."  
  
"Fine," she responded, "but she does like you."  
  
With that being said, she opened the door and walked out of the room. She headed to Hanna's room, where she knew Hanna would be thinking of ways to help Eienno heal.  
  
She knocked on the door, "Hanna, I think he needs you."  
  
Hanna opened the door and looked at Karameki. "What does he need?"  
  
".Just you," she said.  
  
Hanna gave her a strange look and then turned into her room.  
  
"Where are you going?" said Karameki.  
  
Hanna barrelled around in her room, where she had taken the liberty of storing all her antibiotics. She found one called Adreline and put a small portion of it into a needle.  
  
"Have you ever put a needle into someone?"  
  
"No," replied Karameki looking into Hanna's practically filthy room. "Why?"  
  
"Because that would mean that I have to go and help him," she walked out of the room and headed into Eienno's.  
  
"Keep your mouth shut," she told him. He did as she asked.  
  
Karameki slithered off somewhere so that Hanna wouldn't be able to leave, and closed the door behind her.  
  
Hanna inserted the sterilized needle into the skin on Eienno's chest.  
  
"What's this?" he teased, sarcastically.  
  
"This is a drug that will help you heal really, really fast and keep you from feeling any pain," she informed quickly.  
  
Eienno looked at Hanna with longing expression on his face. She leaned her head down to study the wrapping on his wound. He desperately wanted to kiss her as she loomed above him. Her face came closer to his, close enough for him to lift his head and be able to touch her lips with his. He thought for a second, then reached up and pecked her lips softly. She sat, shocked and looked down at him.  
  
"What was that?" she said in a strange monotone voice.  
  
"A weird way of saying thank you," he answered softly, looking into her raspberry eyes that started to tint into a pinkish colour. He reached up again and kissed her with a little more passion. She responded, closing her eyes and beginning to kiss him back.  
  
Her eyes shot open and she pulled away. "What are you doing?"  
  
"I don't know," he said, nervously fidgeting with the hem of the sheets.  
  
"Then don't," she said.  
  
He remained quite and kept fidgeting.  
  
She looked at him and noticed that he looked as though he could slap himself if he could move more than his head.  
  
She couldn't help but want to kiss him again. She walked out of the room, calling for Karameki, then hiding in her room and contemplating what had happened.  
  
'Why did he do that?' she asked herself. 'Why did I do it back? What happened? God, he's a jerk. What possessed him to do that? I hate him.' Her heart ached when she thought those words. Her whole body wanted to go and kiss him again.  
  
Karameki noticed Hanna walk out of him room and back into hers. She headed into Eienno's room to see what was going on.  
  
"What just happened?" she asked, closing the door behind her.  
  
"I really don't know how, or why, but." he paused and looked at her, ".I kissed her. Then, she kissed back."  
  
"I told you she liked you," she added snidely. "If she didn't why would she kiss you?"  
  
"She got pissed and left," he remarked.  
  
"What's wrong with that?"  
  
"I'm married, Karameki," he said shamefully.  
  
"What?" she exasperated. "Married?"  
  
"That's why I can't be with her," he informed again. "I have a wife."  
  
"Don't tell me you have kids too," Karameki began to feel horrible for somehow managing to get him in the situation he was in.  
  
"No," he said, "not that I know of."  
  
"How could you not tell me that before I went to get Hanna in here?" she whimpered sadly.  
  
"Because, I wasn't ready to tell you." He began to fidget with the blanket. "But you're right."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"About her being the right woman for me," he explained. "I just don't think I'm the right guy for her."  
  
"How do you figure?" she responded. "When I kissed her, this might sound strange and really sappy, but she felt so.I don't know. My whole body felt like it was in perfect condition and that it was more powerful than any other."  
  
"And what would make you think that you aren't the right guy for her?"  
  
"Is she with me?" He looked at her with an expression of frustration on his face. "Let's just, leave that whole topic to rest. No more talking about it."  
  
"Fine," she said sitting in her chair and waiting for him to say something else.  
  
Hanna was still puzzling over Eienno when she decided to go into the control room to see what was going on. She opened the door to the cabin and looked out the window.  
  
"Um.Hanna," said Tomodachi noticing that she'd finally come to see what was going on.  
  
"Yeah?" she said, blankly.  
  
"We don't have any communication devices functioning." Tomodachi looked at her screen. The satellites that were atop the shuttle were coloured red with 'out of commission' flashing on the bottom of the screen. "Our engine is running low on fuel and none of the others are working."  
  
"Are our scanners working?" asked Hanna.  
  
Cordelia looked at the radar screens, "Yeah. What do you want me to look for?"  
  
"A colony or space station that might be able to help," she instructed, "I'm going to find a way to tell Meeko and whoever else about the ship."  
  
Hanna headed through her room, closing the door behind her. She knew she should tell Eienno, but she didn't want to see him for a while. She sat down on her bed and waited for news from Cordelia.  
  
Chikara knocked on the door that headed to the shuttle's corridors. She opened it and, upon seeing him, gave him a shameful expression.  
  
"What's wrong?" he asked, automatically picking up on her self-disgust.  
  
"Come in," she said, taking him by the hand and guiding him to her bed where she sat him down. She waited until he was comfortable beside her. Then she shut and locked the doors.  
  
Chikara felt a little aroused sitting on her bed, in her room, with both doors shut and locked.  
  
"I'm only telling you this so you know," she explained. "I kissed him."  
  
"Who?" he responded.  
  
"You know," she said, looking at him, feeling guiltier then she ever had before.  
  
"No," he said with a smile.  
  
"I went to give some pain killers and he kissed me," she excused.  
  
"So?" he looked at her. "He kissed you."  
  
"That's not what I'm trying to tell you," she said quietly.  
  
"What do you want to say?" he asked caringly.  
  
"I kissed him back and I'm so sorry, I'm extremely sorry." Tears began to well up in the corners of her eyes.  
  
"Well," he looked up at her. "Shit happens."  
  
"You mean you're not mad?"  
  
"Why would I be?" He stood up and looked at her. She was a shorter than him, but she was still very tall. She leaned into his body and wrapped her arms around his neck.  
  
He was a little taken by her actions, but wrapped his arms around her waist nonetheless. She rested her head on his shoulder and held him closer to him.  
  
"Thank you," she said.  
  
"No need," he remarked. He looked down at her and gently pressed his lips to hers.  
  
She responded and kissed him, but it didn't feel near as wonderful as it had with Eienno. She pretended it was better, but she knew deep down that it wasn't.  
  
Chikara pulled away and looked at her. He smiled and loosened the grip around her waist.  
  
There was a knock on the door.  
  
"Hanna," called Cordelia. "We found something."  
  
Hanna's grasp on Chikara loosened as well and they let each other go. Chikara headed out the way he came and Hanna headed to the control room.  
  
"What is it?" she said easefully.  
  
"It's a station, but it doesn't have a name listed in the records provided," informed Cordelia.  
  
"Is there a station number for it?" asked Hanna looking at the radar.  
  
"No, but we can see it now," Tomodachi pointed out the chunk of mass. It had a garage door like feature that was open and appeared to be ready to board them.  
  
"Why do they look ready?" asked Hanna, noticing this and pointing it out.  
  
"Because we talked to them," said Tomodachi. "I found out that the satellite that sends e-mails was fine, so we e-mailed them and they're ready for us."  
  
"Why didn't I think of that?" Hanna wondered. "I guess I'll send the General and Meeko an e-mail about our status."  
  
"I already did," said Karameki from behind her.  
  
"What'd you say?"  
  
"I told them what happened to the ship and that we were docking with a station, then I told them about Eienno." Karameki smiled proudly.  
  
"Smart," said Hanna. "Has anyone told our dearest major about what's happening yet?" Her voice was sarcastic, but she knew no one had talked to him for a while.  
  
"No," said Cordelia, "but I know who can."  
  
"Yeah," retorted Karameki, "you."  
  
"No freaking way," replied Cordelia, "he hates me."  
  
"I'll go," muttered Hanna miserably, "childish people."  
  
She walked over to the door and knock on it gently before opening it. She poked her head in the door and frowned at Eienno.  
  
"Wake up!" she yelled.  
  
"What the fuck do you want?" said Eienno, "Let me freaking sleep."  
  
"No," she said softly. "I just need to tell you about what's going on. We're docking with a satellite so that we have enough fuel and engine power to get to the colony. We found a way to communicate with people outside the ship and now that I've told you everything that's going on, shut up and sleep."  
  
"Fine by me," he turned his head to the wall opposite her face and drifted back to sleep.  
  
For some odd reason, being shooed by him made her feel hurt. She looked to the floor with a depression she'd never felt before and shut the door, leaving him to his rest. She could feel her heart sinking more and more as she thought about it. She didn't understand how she could feel so hurt in the first place. He was an asshole to her all the time.  
  
Karameki saw the expression Hanna's face portrayed. She couldn't believe that someone could look so sad and depressed. She followed Hanna with her eyes as she headed back to her room.  
  
"Hanna," said Cordelia, "we're about to dock with the station."  
  
"So?" retorted Hanna. "I'm sure you know what to do."  
  
"Sure," Cordelia's voice was sarcastic and crude.  
  
"And I'm ordering that you do it," Hanna slammed the door shut and locked it behind her.  
  
"Fine," muttered Cordelia bitterly, "talk about abusing authority."  
  
"She's not 'abusing authority,' moron, she's doing her damn job," said Tomodachi in Hanna's defence. "Didn't you see how she looked?"  
  
"Like she normally looks," remarked Cordelia.  
  
"No," Karameki reminded, "she looked upset. Oh, but yeah, you're too conceited to notice."  
  
Hanna looked at her watch. It was two in the afternoon and she hadn't eaten since breakfast. For some weird reason, she didn't feel hungry; just depressed and alone. Even if Chikara were in her room with her, she knew she'd still feel lonely and angry with herself.  
  
She rolled over and fell asleep, unable to help herself. She didn't sleep all that well though. She tossed and turned, feeling the same discomforts that Eienno felt.cold and empty.  
  
She couldn't wake up, though, and just kept tossing and turning.  
  
Eienno woke shortly after Hanna had fallen asleep.  
  
"Karameki," he called.  
  
Karameki could hear Eienno calling her and hurried to help him.  
  
"Yeah?" she said opening the door to his room and peeking in.  
  
"I know she'll get pissed at you for it, but I need her," he instructed.  
  
Karameki nodded. "I'm just going to need to go through your room. She locked the door on that side."  
  
"I don't care."  
  
Karameki hurried through his room and into the hallway. She turned to Hanna's door and knocked on it lightly. There was no answer, so Karameki opened the door and looked in.  
  
Hanna was asleep on the bed. She looked pale and sweat sheered her face.  
  
'Is she sick?' wondered Karameki, heading over to where Hanna lay. She gently nudged Hanna awake.  
  
Hanna could feel her eyes sting and dry mouth open slightly upon waking up.  
  
"Are you okay?" asked Karameki. "You suddenly look as though you're going to die." "I feel fine," mumbled Hanna, acting as if nothing was wrong. "Why are you waking me up?"  
  
"Eienno needs you."  
  
Hanna sat up and looked around. Her head spun in the opposite way her eyes did. She stood up, making her head throb angrily.  
  
'What's wrong? Why do I feel so ill?' Hanna asked herself, trying desperately to figure it out.  
  
She stumbled dizzily into Eienno's room.  
  
"What in hell do you want?" she said, sounding a lot harsher then she thought.  
  
"I was just wondering, when I'd be able to move," he said, feeling just as much pain and annoyance as she felt.  
  
"Whenever you can, asshole." She walked back out of his room and into hers again. This time, she made sure she locked the door and she flopped down on her bed again. She shivered intensely, making her slide her slender figure into the covers. She still felt like she was freezing.  
  
'What is wrong with my body?' she asked herself again. 'Is it the fact that I'm a little depressed or am I genuinely sick?'  
  
She tried to perk up a bit, but found it to be difficult. She rolled over and tried as best she could to sleep, but ended up lying in bed for hours upon hours.  
  
Hanna peeked at her watch. It was eleven pm and she still hadn't fallen asleep. She felt well enough to eat a little food now and headed to the kitchen.  
  
She found a small package of juice and drank it pleasurably, heading back to her room as she did. She felt so much better, almost as though she had never been sick.  
  
'What happened?' she asked herself. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard Eienno cry out. She opened the door to peer into his room. She noticed that even though his body didn't move, his head couldn't hold still. She walked over to him, closing the door behind her.  
  
She put her juice on the bedside table and lowered herself to her knees, leaning on the bed for support. She put a hand gently on his cheek. He calmed down a little and seemed to be at peace. When she lifted her hand, his expression seemed to die on the spot.  
  
Knowing that he must feel as lonely as she did, she climbed onto the bed and carefully climbed over him to the side of the bed closest to the wall.  
  
She felt a burst of happiness throughout her body and smiled when he sleepily wrapped an arm around her. Her body felt warm and content.  
  
She noticed that Eienno looked like he would heal twice as fast with her lying there beside him. She unconsciously snuggled into his body and fell asleep with her head perched on his shoulder.  
  
Hanna felt eyes on her face when she woke up. She raised her head and looked around, noticing that she wasn't in her room.  
  
Eienno starred at her. He felt happy with her there and wished that he had the courage to pull her closer to him.  
  
"Sorry," she whispered, remembering that she'd joined him the night before. "I'll go."  
  
"It's okay," he remarked, comfortingly.  
  
She rested her head on his shoulder. "You just looked really lonely and miserable last night, so I thought I'd spend the night with you to keep you comfortable."  
  
"You actually cared?" he was shocked at her explanation.  
  
"If I didn't, wouldn't you be dead?" She talked slowly and drowsily and quickly fell back to sleep, enjoying the peaceful feeling that they shared for the first time they'd met.  
  
He unconsciously pulled her into his embrace again. She looked so content with him that he couldn't help but look and fall for her right then and there.  
  
He mumbled something incoherent to even himself. He rested his head on the pillow and closed his eyes, eager to fall asleep again. He found himself successful in only minutes.  
  
Karameki was worried about her friend. She decided that she'd check on Hanna and see if she needed anything. When she wasn't in her room, she searched every room, but the bedrooms. Of course, her search was in vain.  
  
She looked in Chikara's room, knowing for a fact that he was still asleep. She wasn't there, so she looked in Hanna's room again, and finally, she checked the most unlikely place, Cordelia's room, and found nothing.  
  
'The only other place would be either my room or.' she paused and smiled to herself. 'Do I even need to check?'  
  
She poked her head into Eienno's room and looked around. She couldn't see Hanna anywhere, but knew for a fact that she wasn't anywhere else. She walked in and peered over the bed.  
  
She laughed inwardly so no one would hear her. There was Hanna, healthy as ever, snuggled right into the side of Eienno's body. In return he had an arm wrapped around her waist.  
  
'What in the world is going on?' she asked herself. She rolled her eyes, more surprised then sarcastic. She left the room, closing the door behind her so no one would be able to see.  
  
She closed Hanna's door as well so that people would think that she was still in her room sleeping. She headed to the kitchen to prepare breakfast, since her captain didn't seem to be interested in cooking. In her giddy mood, she decided that she'd go all out and make one of the biggest breakfasts she'd seen.  
  
Cordelia sat in the kitchen, at the table and starred at Karameki with an evil eye.  
  
"Why are you so excited this morning?" she asked, eying her companion suspiciously.  
  
"I have my reasons." Karameki dug through the cupboards in a failing attempt to find a cookbook.  
  
"You wouldn't happen to know what happened to Hanna, would you?" asked Cordelia, no longer suspicious of her friend.  
  
"I think she got a little sick yesterday and slept," answered Karameki, knowing that Cordelia wouldn't have a clue about what had really happened.  
  
"I feel bad," said Cordelia, opening up to the one person everyone. "I've been really inconsiderate towards Hanna. Haven't I?"  
  
"No, you think?" replied Karameki, sarcastically, but with friendly tone.  
  
"I don't even know why," explained Cordelia. "Maybe I'm jealous of her for some useless and pathetic reason."  
  
"Maybe." Karameki was happy that Cordelia was finally seeing the big picture. She had treated Hanna with no respect. Even though everyone knew she deserved the respect any person should get.  
  
Cordelia made a goal for herself, 'I should try and treat everyone nicely and equal to myself.' That was her final thought on the topic before she busied herself by helping Karameki.  
  
Chikara had chosen to pilot the shuttle throughout most of the night. He was just in the process of docking the ship with the space station, when Tomodachi joined him.  
  
"Morning," she said cheerily.  
  
"Hi," he replied tiredly.  
  
"How are you?" she asked. "Did you sleep well?"  
  
"Yep," he answered, "You?"  
  
"I always sleep well." She looked at him with kindness. "I know you like her a lot, Chikara," she started, "But you're going to end up putting yourself through a lot of pain if you fall in love with her."  
  
"Why do you say that?" he responded, not at all offended at her words.  
  
"Because, she's already in love with someone else."  
  
"Who would that be?"  
  
"I'm sure you can figure it out pretty fast," she noticed he was looking a little uncomfortable with the topic of conversation she'd picked. "Don't get me wrong. I know she likes you.but I don't think you're going to like the way the story ends. I'm not even saying you should end it, just make up your mind now and know the consequences of your decision."  
  
"Thank you for the warning," he stated kindly and thankfully. He knew what his choice was. He would stay with Hanna, even if he did end up getting hurt in the end. He really liked Hanna, but knew that Tomodachi was right. His mind was made up though; he'd stay with her and enjoy what time he'd have with her, then face the truth.  
  
Hanna woke again. She was too comfortable to want to move. So she just looked at Eienno's face.  
  
'Why do I feel so.perfect?' she asked herself. 'Why does he feel so perfect?' She rested her head in the crevasses of his neck, finding that somehow, she fit like as though she were a puzzle piece that attached to that part of him.  
  
His eyes fluttered open when he realized she had woken up.  
  
"I know you've done lots for me," he looked around the room anxiously. "But I need you to change my clothes."  
  
She rolled her eyes, knowing he asked her so he'd have his chance to bug her. She dug through the drawers for something he could wear. She found some sweat pants and a tank that seemed comfortable for him.  
  
She walked over to the bed, hesitating slightly, and then pulled the covers off his body. She rolled her eyes at herself and sat on the side of the bed. She gently removed his shirt, revealing the muscles that she'd hidden from herself while performing surgery. She quickly, but gently slid the tank overtop so she wouldn't be caught drooling over his absolutely perfect body. She unbuckled his pants and swallowed hard, trying hard not to let her hormones take over her judgement. She pulled his pants down as if he were a little baby, making sure she didn't pull his boxers down with them. She hurriedly put the sweatpants on. She sighed and gave him his breakfast. She left the room, ready to restart her day, properly. 


	7. Akeeva Tatumashi

A/N: Thanks Jue (Faith in a bad guy) for all the funny ideas you inspire me to think of. Everyone else, please R&R, and tell me if you like it.  
  
Chapter Seven Akeeva Tatumashi  
  
  
  
  
  
Hanna was comfortable with hot water running down her body. She knew she'd probably end up sleeping in Eienno's room again. She felt secure and cozy being as close to him as she was. She put some shampoo in her hand and lathered it into her hair. Her thoughts drifted, 'I wonder what he thought this morning. He must have thought I was someone else. But then again, it's hard to confuse someone with a blue-haired woman. Funny, he wasn't mad at me.' She rinsed the shampoo out of her hair and massaged some conditioner into her hair. 'I mean, he actually looked even a little happy that I was there. Must have been my imagination.'  
  
She finished showering and stepped out. She dried herself, and then put her clothes on. She wore a white shirt with flared blue jeans. She pinned her hair into a messy bun and looked at herself in the mirror. She was slightly flushed as it was and decided not to put makeup on. She brushed her teeth, then flossed and walked out of the bathroom.  
  
She found herself wanting to back to Eienno and snuggle in his arms, but ended up going to the kitchen instead. She wasn't really hungry, but she knew if she'd go anywhere else, she'd only think about him.  
  
Karameki noticed that she was red in the cheeks; more so then usual as well. She smiled gently, knowing the reason for it.  
  
"Are you okay?" she asked, looking Hanna in the eye. "You were pretty sick last night."  
  
"Yeah," replied Hanna, "I guess it was just a minute flu."  
  
"I suppose." Karameki noticed that she had been sick only after Eienno shooed her. Then this morning, after sleeping in his bed with him, she was beyond fine. Hanna was going to be a hard person for Karameki to figure out. She handed Hanna to plates of food, before anyone else made their way to breakfast.  
  
"You might just want to hurry before people find out where you'd be," said Karameki quietly. "I can totally see that you would die to be with him again."  
  
"How could you tell?" Hanna wondered. "I mean, how did you know that's where I was?"  
  
"You were sick yesterday, so I tried to find you," replied Karameki. "I looked everywhere to find you and low and behold, there you were."  
  
"Oh, I see," said Hanna, looking more confused then she'd ever been before.  
  
"Well, go on, before someone walks in here."  
  
Hanna excused herself and went back to Eienno's room with breakfast in hand. She was aware that she'd have to lay down beside him, just as well as she knew she'd fall asleep again. She opened the door to find Eienno sleeping, as he usually would do, especially since there was nothing else he could do. She just placed both meals on the bed side table and curled up beside him with her head on his shoulder.  
  
He could feel her lay down her wet head on him. He didn't care that it was wet. He appreciated that she was there. He wasn't really awake, he just knew by the feelings of happiness and content that he had. He hadn't ever felt that way, just because someone snuggled with him.  
  
She snuggled closer, realizing that her whole body fit into his shape perfectly. Where her body moved in, his moved out and where her body moved in, hers moved out. She couldn't help but push her body into his more then she already had. He pulled his arm out from beside her and wrapped it around her back. She rested her head on his arm, then reached her arm over his belly, far below his wound.  
  
He couldn't figure out why she felt so comfortable where she was and why he wasn't angry with her. He didn't even have the usual urge to pick on her. He just enjoyed snuggling with her.  
  
The dream he'd had a couple days ago began to haunt him. He never felt this way about Yukkarie and never felt that he could just lay in bed with her. She always cared about something that made talking to her an agonizing experience. It was only recently that she began to listen to him and the only reason for that was that he wasn't there to talk to about anything anytime. It was true.he had only married Yukkarie because she was good in bed.  
  
There was something else with Hanna, though. The way she yelled at him and treated him after knowing him after only a few days. He couldn't figure her out. At one moment, she seemed to care for him and love him.while at other times it was almost like she hated him and wished he was dead. Was it that she didn't know how to deal with whatever she felt for him? Or did she actually and genuinely hate him? He knew that he was beginning to slowly and progressively like her more and more. He dismissed his thoughts with another. He thought about how just being there with her was perfect. She was perfect. She looked peaceful and happy. He too noticed how snug she fit with him. He rested his hand on hers, granting him a small smile from Hanna. He smiled too and for the first time, since his wedding with Yukkarie.  
  
Karameki knew exactly what Hanna and Eienno were feeling about each other at that moment. She smirked triumphantly knowing that she didn't have to do a thing to get them together. She also despised herself for trying to interfere. Cordelia was right though, they were coming together on their own and becoming a very strange relationship. She dismissed the though, remembered that they needed to repair engines and that they were docked with a station to do so. The little something that disturbed her was that she'd have to get Hanna.  
  
She decided though, that she'd once again take charge and pretend that she was the captain of the ship. She took Tomodachi along.  
  
Chikara was getting anxious. He finally got out of his seat at the flight controls and headed to Hanna's door. He knocked on it lightly and then walked in. He found the room to be empty and began to feel slightly suspicious. He looked throughout the shuttle, bathroom, weight room, ladies room, kitchen and dining room, all leaving him slightly angry that she was avoiding him. He peered over at Eienno's door, noticing it suddenly. He crept up to it trying as hard as he could to be quiet. He reacted his hand out to open the door.  
  
Hanna felt a cold chill run down her spine. She didn't know why, but it made her feel insecure.  
  
Eienno felt this and pulled the covers to her neck, covering himself in the process.  
  
Low and behold.  
  
.Chikara stood shocked in the doorway. He starred, unnoticed by both Hanna and Eienno.  
  
As always, Cordelia was mindlessly heading to where the trouble was. She, unlike others, noticed Chikara in the doorway. He looked paralyzed. She walked over to the room with a mischievous look cursing the features of her face. She peered in, lurking above Chikara's shoulder. Her eyes narrowed. She crawled past Chikara, still unseen by anyone. She stood with her hands on her hips.  
  
"Well, well, well," she chided triumphantly. "What do we have here?" She walked over to the bed. "Little Miss Cheat and Major Boner."  
  
Hanna and Eienno's eyes shot open simultaneously. They looked at Cordelia, who loomed tauntingly over them, then at Chikara who looked as though he was going to choke and die on what he saw.  
  
Eienno looked at Hanna, seeing her hurt regret. Knowing why she was feeling the way she was, he looked at Cordelia and Chikara. "Get the fuck out!" he said.  
  
"Not without an explanation or reason why you and Hanna are naked in bed, snuggled right up to each other," she insisted. "And I want my reason now!"  
  
"No," said Eienno, "Get the fuck out!"  
  
Chikara walked into the room and looked down at Hanna.  
  
"We've only been going out for three days and you're already cheating on me." His eyes were saddened.  
  
She frowned at both the intruders, then stood up, revealing that she was fully dressed and that no piece of clothing was out of place or appeared to be disturbed.  
  
Cordelia looked at Eienno; he too was completely dressed. Not even a pant leg out of place.  
  
Chikara felt both sorry and mad. He was jealous that she would cuddle and sleep in the same bed as Eienno, but she wouldn't do the same for him.  
  
'I'm losing it,' thought Hanna. 'It's been almost a week and I'm already hanging out with the guy who annoys me and hates me.'  
  
She stepped off the bed as gently as she could and left the room. Followed closely by Cordelia and Chikara.  
  
Cordelia was the last to leave and shut the door behind her. She headed to the control room and sat alone in her seat. She was slightly embarrassed with herself, for assuming an assuming wrong. What made it even worse was that she'd been rude to not only her Captain, but her highest ranking commander as well. She was never going to forget that and decided here and there to fully mind her own business.  
  
Karameki and Tomodachi were having much better luck. They had found the person they'd talked to, to get them repaired. And were well on their way back to the shuttle to repair everything.  
  
When they got back to the shuttle the person helping them sighed in discover shock. He starred up at name on the shuttle.  
  
"I've heard that name somewhere," he explained.  
  
"What name?" responded Karameki.  
  
"The name of the ship, 'Descents.'" He thought back to when he had heard it. The infamous Meeko-Bei. She had told him that he was going to be the one whom so kindly would join them team, unbeknownst to the general and the shipmates. He was supposed to take the job of a counselor if needed.  
  
Karameki and Tomodachi had never got the chance to look at the name on the shuttle. No one had told them the name and when they were outside the ship, Meeko-Bei had hurried them so much there wasn't the possibility of them seeing. The name had an effect on both Karameki and Tomodachi's points of view about the mission they were on.  
  
"Question," he said suddenly, "Is there any need of a counselor aboard your fair ship?"  
  
Karameki giggled slightly to herself. "No, us" she remarked sarcastically, "we only need a ton of counseling on the rest of our journey. I have a feeling things will get worse too."  
  
"Do you know someone named Meeko-Bei?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, she's the nosy and compulsive person who told us what we needed to do," said Tomodachi.  
  
"She told me to join you. I have the visual transmission saved if you need proof." He peered at the two women in front of him.  
  
"I think we'll do that," said Karameki for the purpose of security.  
  
The guy led them to the office, where he slid his card through a lock. "Welcome home, Akeeva," said the machine.  
  
"Does anyone else have access to this room?" asked Tomodachi, knowing that he could have broke in and read the message before anyone else could.  
  
"No," he said. "It's exactly like a private residence, just smaller and you use a card with no information about your place on it."  
  
He showed them his key card and entered his apartment. Tomodachi and Karameki both huddled around the card and studied the little bit of information on it. His name was indeed Akeeva Tatumashi and his picture was a perfect match.  
  
They past the card back to him and entered his rather clean apartment. He pushed the button on the computer. A transmission projector shot light onto the opposite wall, revealing a picture of Meeko-Bei.  
  
"Dear Mister Tatumashi, I have an order straight from General Peters himself, saying that you are to attend the top-secret mission to Earth. They will pick you up from the station you are situated in and will not know you. You will know the shuttle by its name. 'Descents' is painted on the side in bold white writing. Please don't refuse as they will need your help.Sorry about the short notice and trouble. Your Assistant General, Meeko-Bei Takatu."  
  
'Annoying woman,' thought Karameki. 'Assuming that Hanna and Eienno would sleep together, what a hag.'  
  
"I think that clears you," said Tomodachi, looking at Karameki.  
  
"Me too," she responded. "So let's go fix the ship so we can go and get this god forsaken job done."  
  
Akeeva wasn't upset or irritated that he was going, he was a little angry he wasn't given the option. He also hated the fact that the rest of the crew was clueless as to him being picked to help them on their journey. He knew that Meeko-Bei had ordered he go, and not the General, and he was completely right about it.  
  
He quickly helped install the engines on the shuttle, making the autopilot better than before. He had designed an autopilot program that would make sure an accident like the one that happened to the ship could be prevented. He explained how it worked as he installed it.  
  
"I'm not going to ask if this is okay," he started, "I'm just going to tell about it, hoping that you will like the idea. This is a program I designed, called Pilot, that is made to either assist a pilot or be pilot during the part of a trip where the atmosphere is too dangerous for the normal autopilot to fly through. For example, the asteroid belt. It obviously did you guys a lot of damage. If you'd had this program in your ship, that wouldn't have happened. It is a program that uses the radar to find something and maneuver the ship to avoid the ship's getting damaged."  
  
"Nice job," said Tomodachi. She continued to disconnect engines and connect their replacements. She noticed Akeeva stare at her for a few seconds, then get back to what he was doing originally. She smiled at him, knowing that his back was turned. He wasn't near as muscular as Eienno was, but he was still better built the most guys.  
  
'Look at that ass,' she thought looking at him. Usually she didn't think things like that about guys, but he was different. Ever since she was a little girl, she would only say or think things that were true. She didn't like the feels she would feel when she was lying.  
  
Karameki noticed Akeeva and Tomodachi absent mindedly flirt with each other. She concluded then, that there was going to be a relationship between Tomodachi and Akeeva a lot of less hatred than was felt between Hanna and Eienno. And of course, a lot less cheating. She remembered that she'd left Hanna, Eienno, Cordelia and Chikara in the shuttle alone. She also realized that Sebastien was too big an idiot to stop everyone from fighting with anyone else. Darn it, he wouldn't even be around to see anything go on.  
  
"Excuse me for a sec, there's someone I need to check on," she explained to the two people she was working with. She left them to continue flirting with each other.  
  
Hanna didn't know whether to cry or laugh. She was sad that Chikara felt she was more of a girlfriend to Eienno then to him. But the face on Cordelia was priceless, especially when she first say Hanna stand up. It was just too funny for Hanna to keep a strait face and she broke into laughter. She was shortly interrupted by the ever jealous Chikara.  
  
"I had a girlfriend, once," he started. "She cheated on me with possibly the most retarded guy imaginable. She ended up getting pregnant by him and dumping me after almost a year of dating him."  
  
"I promise you," reassured Hanna, "I didn't sleep with him at all. I was just keeping him company because he was having nightmares and they seemed to go away when I was there."  
  
"I'm just saying that, I've been a jealous boyfriend ever since. Just so you know." He walked into the hallway again. She stood from her spot on her bed and headed towards him. She pulled him into her room and closed the door behind him. She sat him down on the bed then climbed over to the wall. He sat and watched her like a hawk would watch his next pray. She grabbed his body and dragged it further onto the bed. She lay him down and snuggled into him, just as she had to Eienno a few hours ago.  
  
He was taken aback by her actions. He didn't know what to think, so decided that he would just go with what she was doing and snuggle with her as well.  
  
She didn't feel nearly as comfortable with Chikara as she did with Eienno, she didn't feel secure at all. She knew that unlike Eienno, Chikara would probably jump at the chance to sleep with her. Eienno on the other hand, was a lot more passionate, gentle and respectable then the man whom now held her. She wished she was with him again. She couldn't even picture herself in his room, as Chikara's body was too different from his. He felt awkward and small against her.  
  
She sighed trying hard to hide her need for Eienno to be with her again, and managed to do so well.  
  
Eienno on the other hand, had much more difficultly understanding why she'd left him. He wasn't telling her to go away, he was telling everyone else. He wanted to be healthy again, only for a minute, so he could walk to her room and lay with her again.  
  
All of a sudden, Karameki poked her head in the door. Upon seeing Eienno's disturbance, she brought her whole self into the room and closed the door.  
  
"What's wrong?" she asked, knowing his problem by the absence of his Hanna.  
  
"I guess that Chikara or Cordelia found Hanna in here," he said. He looked at her nervously, he knew she had some sort of know-how about Hanna's actions. "That little bitch, Cordelia thought we had 'slept' together and got Hanna pissed off, then she left."  
  
"I noticed Hanna was missing." She looked at the empty spot on the bed beside him. He hadn't budged a bit so he could have more room. It was almost as if he was expecting her to return. "I'm pretty such she'll be coming back later. Oh, by the way, we have a new person coming aboard in a few minutes. I think you'll like him. He's the exact opposite of Chikara, except nice. He's got more of a brain than Sebastien and I'm pretty sure he'd be one of those people who lift weights to get built."  
  
"Sounds like I'm going to make a new friend," remarked Eienno with partial sarcasm.  
  
"We're almost done fixing the engines," she said, before walking out to go help Tomodachi again. She closed the door softly behind her.  
  
Tomodachi felt like she needed to talk, but didn't know how. She wanted to ask him about his personal life; things like whether he was single or not, his age, his family, his job and other things like that. She finally decided to speak.  
  
"So, is your profession in counseling or engineering?" she asked.  
  
"I'm more into the engineering thing, but I enjoy helping people with their problems," he looked over at her, then back to his work, "I like the feeling that I'm being trusted."  
  
"Um." she froze before asking the question she longed to ask. "I was wondering if you had." she hesitated again, ".what's your marital status?" She finally got it out in one quick phrase.  
  
"Who wants to know?" he teased, looking at her again, just to see an extremely red face.  
  
"Well," she paused again, "Me."  
  
"I'm single."  
  
"Good, me too."  
  
An Awkward silence made Tomodachi's stomach turn. She rolled her eyes in relief when Karameki came back.  
  
"How's everything out here?" she asked, walking in from the corridors.  
  
"We're almost done," answered Akeeva.  
  
"We will probably be able to go in about ten minutes," added Tomodachi.  
  
"Good job, you guys," she sighed happily, "Great job."  
  
They finished before ten minutes even came close to ending and headed to the control room.  
  
When they got there, Sebastien was chuckling evilly to himself and starring at the computer screen.  
  
"Ha," he said, "I just got myself a first impression." He turned the screen so everyone could see the picture of Akeeva's 'back end' face them. He was bent over, looking directly at the unnoticed camera.  
  
Tomodachi let a small giggle escape her lips. She glared at the picture as though she wanted to stop looking.  
  
"I sent it to Meeko-Bei," said Sebastien with a mischievously annoying smirk.  
  
* * *  
  
Meeko-Bei red her e-mails. She laughed giddily when she saw the e-mail entitled, 'We Found Him.' She opened it and found that Sebastien had sent the picture of Akeeva working engines.  
  
She figured that since the e-mail told her they were close to taking off from the station, she'd finally tell the general about her little behind the scenes scam.  
  
She knocked on his office door lightly, then walked in.  
  
"Excuse me, general, but I need to tell you something." She sat down in the middle of the floor as though she was a little kid getting punished for lying. "I ordered another person to be picked up along the way."  
  
"Who?" said the general kindly.  
  
"His name is Akeeva Tatumashi," she informed, "He's an engineer and counselor. I do have a reason for ordering he join them. Because he's an engineer, he can help Tomodachi with her job and because there have already been traumatic problems on the shuttle that need immediate attention from a counselor."  
  
"I trust you," he said quietly, "You don't need to explain yourself. Just next time, ask or at least tell me first, okay?"  
  
She nodded and dismissed herself, leaving the general to think.  
  
'I wonder what's going on out there that requires a counselor. Is Meeko's prediction about the two head officers true already?' he knew she was right, but knew that it was also too soon. He had watched the little meeting before take off and noticed something about them, just as everyone else had. He knew that Meeko had had a good idea went she suggested putting more rooms in the shuttle. There were certainly going to be more arrivals one the come, but that wasn't the topic for question. Everyone wondered when the arrival would arrive. He decided that he would eat and think on a full stomach. * * *  
  
Hanna all of a sudden felt hungry. She happily accepted that she had a reason to leave Chikara here by himself. He had fallen asleep for some odd reason as it was only two in the afternoon She thanked whatever god there was and headed to the kitchen.  
  
She was greeted by the rest of her friends, not including Cordelia who sat red faced in the corner.  
  
"Hanna," said Karameki. "We have a new crewmate. His name is Akeeva Tatumashi. He was ordered to dock with us. The shuttle is fully repaired and we are just about ready to head off."  
  
Hanna nodded at the realization that Karameki had just told her everything that had happened throughout the day.  
  
"By the way," said Karameki, "How did you sleep?"  
  
Hanna smirked at Karameki, "Fine, thank you." They both peered over at Cordelia, whose red face went from embarrassed red to angry red. She glared at both of them, knowing exactly what they were trying to say.  
  
Hanna ate her meal and then remembered that Eienno was probably starving.  
  
"Is there food left for Eienno?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah," said Karameki, fully aware that the question was bound to be asked. "It's over there on the counter."  
  
Hanna grabbed the preserved dish and headed all the way back to Eienno's room.again.  
  
She left the plate on his bedside table, taking the dirty one from breakfast. She took a quick peek at him and smiled happily. He looked peaceful every time she saw him, maybe it was just her though. She left the room, even though she would've by far preferred to stay there.  
  
She gave him one last glance before she left the room. She was starting to believe what the others had said about them. She could feel the emotions and sensations of happiness and lust around her every minute she spent around him.  
  
She headed to the control room. Just as she sat down, the shuttle took off again, this time with a booking to land on the moon. 


End file.
